Events

Pre-1600

• 330 Constantine the Great dedicates the much-expanded and rebuilt city of Byzantium, changing its name to Constantinople and declaring it the new capital of the Roman Empire that modern historians describe as Byzantine Empire.

• 868 A copy of the Diamond Sūtra is published, the earliest dated and printed book known.

• 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. His wife, Ælfthryth, is crowned queen, the first recorded coronation for a Queen of England.

• 1068 Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, is crowned Queen of England.

• 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.

• 1560 The Ottoman naval forces inflict a defeat on a Spanish fleet in the battle of Djerba. This marks the highpoint of Ottoman naval dominance in the Mediterranean, which starts declining five years later after the failed siege of Malta.

1601–1900

• 1713 Great Northern War: After losing the Battle of Helsinki to the Russians, the Swedish and Finnish troops burn the entire city, so that it would not remain intact in the hands of the Russians.

• 1812 Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons.

• 1813 William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth discover a route across the Blue Mountains, opening up inland Australia to settlement.

• 1857 Indian Rebellion of 1857: Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British.

• 1858 Minnesota becomes the 32nd U.S. state.

• 1878 - Hödel assassination attempt by anarchist Max Hödel targeting the German Kaiser, Wilhelm I.

• 1880 Seven people are killed in the Mussel Slough Tragedy, a gun battle in California.

• 1889 An attack upon a U.S. Army paymaster and escort results in the theft of over $28,000 and the award of two Medals of Honor.

• 1894 Four thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a wildcat strike.

1901–present

• 1919 Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

• 1953 In the deadliest of a series of tornadoes, an F5 tornado kills 114 in Waco, Texas.

• 1970 The 1970 Lubbock tornado kills 26 and causes $250million in damage.

• 1973 Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg's charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times are dismissed.

• 1973 Aeroflot Flight 6551 crashes in Semey, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (now Kazakhstan), killing all 63 aboard.

• 1985 Fifty-six spectators die and more than 200 are injured in the Bradford City stadium fire.

• 1987 Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.

• 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.

• 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.

• 2000 Second Chechen War: Chechen separatists ambush Russian paramilitary forces in the Republic of Ingushetia.

• 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.

• 2009 Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on the final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

• 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.

• 2011 An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 hits Lorca, Spain.

• 2011 The Istanbul Convention is signed in Istanbul, Turkey.

• 2013 Fifty-two people are killed in a bombing in Reyhanlı, Turkey.

• 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.

• 2016 One hundred and ten people are killed in an ISIL bombing in Baghdad.

• 2022 The Burmese military executes at least 37 villagers during the Mon Taing Pin massacre in Sagaing, Myanmar.

• 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.

• 2024 – Start/Middle of the May 2024 Solar Storms, the most powerful set of geomagnetic storms since the 2003 Halloween solar storms.

• 2024 The 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest is held in Malmö, Sweden. Nemo from Switzerland win with their song "The Code", making them the contest's first non-binary winner.

Births

Pre-1600

• 1571 Niwa Nagashige, Japanese daimyō (died 1637)

• 1578 Sophie Axelsdatter Brahe, Danish noblewoman (died 1646)

1601–1900

• 1715 Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach, German organist (died 1739)

• 1752 Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German physician, physiologist, and anthropologist (died 1840)

• 1797 José Mariano Salas, Mexican general and politician (died 1867)

• 1811 Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel, Swiss politician (died 1893)

• 1811 Chang and Eng Bunker, Siamese-American showmen, the original conjoined twins (died 1874)

• 1852 Charles W. Fairbanks, American journalist and politician, 26th United States Vice President (died 1918)

• 1854 Jack Blackham, Australian cricketer (died 1932)

• 1869 Archibald Warden, English tennis player (died 1943)

• 1871 Frank Schlesinger, American astronomer and author (died 1943)

• 1875 Harriet Quimby, American pilot and screenwriter (died 1912)

• 1881 Al Cabrera, Spanish-Cuban baseball player and manager (died 1964)

• 1881 Jan van Gilse, Dutch composer and conductor (died 1944)

• 1881 Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, and engineer (died 1963)

• 1888 Irving Berlin, Belarusian-American pianist and composer (died 1989)

• 1888 Willis Augustus Lee, American admiral (died 1945)

• 1889 Paul Nash, British painter (died 1946)

• 1890 Willie Applegarth, English-American sprinter (died 1958)

• 1890 Helge Løvland, Norwegian decathlete (died 1984)

• 1894 Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (died 1991)

• 1895 Jacques Brugnon, French tennis player (died 1978)

• 1895 Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher and speaker (died 1986)

• 1895 William Grant Still, American composer and conductor (died 1978)

• 1896 Josip Štolcer-Slavenski, Croatian composer and academic (died 1955)

• 1897 Robert E. Gross, American businessman (died 1961)

1901–present

• 1901 Rose Ausländer, poet and author (died 1988)

• 1901 Gladys Rockmore Davis, American painter (died 1967)

• 1903 Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player and manager (died 1993)

• 1904 Salvador Dalí, Spanish artist (died 1989)

• 1905 Lise de Baissac, Mauritian SOE agent, war hero (died 2004)

• 1905 Catherine Bauer Wurster, American architect and public housing advocate (died 1964)

• 1907 Rip Sewell, American baseball player and coach (died 1989)

• 1911 Phil Silvers, American actor and comedian (died 1985)

• 1912 Saadat Hasan Manto, Pakistani author and screenwriter (died 1955)

• 1912 Foster Brooks, American actor and comedian (died 2001)

• 1916 Camilo José Cela, Spanish author and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2002)

• 1918 Richard Feynman, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1988)

• 1924 Antony Hewish, English astronomer and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2021)

• 1925 Edward J. King, American politician, 66th Governor of Massachusetts (died 2006)

• 1927 Bernard Fox, British actor (died 2016)

• 1927 Gene Savoy, American explorer, author, and scholar (died 2007)

• 1928 Arthur Foulkes, 9th governor-general of the Bahamas

• 1929 Gerhard Klingenberg, Austrian actor (died 2024)

• 1930 Edsger W. Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist and academic (died 2002)

• 1930 Basil H. Losten, American Ukrainian Greek Catholic hierarch (died 2024)

• 1932 Valentino Garavani, Italian fashion designer (died 2026)

• 1933 Louis Farrakhan, American religious leader

• 1934 Jim Jeffords, American lawyer and politician (died 2014)

• 1934 Jack Twyman, American basketball player (died 2012)

• 1937 Ildikó Újlaky-Rejtő, Hungarian Olympic and world champion foil fencer

• 1941 Eric Burdon, English musician

• 1941 Ian Redpath, Australian cricketer and coach (died 2024)

• 1943 Nancy Greene Raine, Canadian skier and politician

• 1945 Hilda Pérez Carvajal, Venezuelan biologist

• 1947 Butch Trucks, American drummer (died 2017)

• 1948 Nirj Deva, British politician

• 1948 Pam Ferris, Welsh actress

• 1950 Jeremy Paxman, English journalist and author

• 1950 Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Indian actor (died 2014)

• 1951 Ed Stelmach, Canadian farmer and politician, 13th Premier of Alberta

• 1954 John Gregory, English footballer and manager

• 1955 James L. Dolan, American businessman

• 1957 Mike Nesbitt, Northern Irish journalist and politician

• 1958 Sayuri Kume, Japanese singer-songwriter

• 1963 Natasha Richardson, English actress (died 2009)

• 1964 Tim Blake Nelson, American actor

• 1964 Bobby Witt, American baseball player

• 1967 Alberto García Aspe, Mexican footballer and manager

• 1969 Mitch Healey, Australian rugby league player and coach

• 1969 Simon Vroemen, Dutch runner

• 1970 Harold Ford Jr., American lawyer and politician

• 1974 Stanley Gene, Papua New Guinean rugby league player

• 1975 Francisco Cordero, Dominican baseball player

• 1975 Ziad Jarrah, Lebanese terrorist, September 11 attacks (died 2001)

• 1976 Kardinal Offishall, Canadian rapper and record producer/executive

• 1977 Pablo Gabriel García, Uruguayan footballer

• 1977 Victor Matfield, South African rugby player, coach, and sportscaster

• 1977 Bobby Roode, Canadian professional wrestler

• 1978 Laetitia Casta, French model and actress

• 1978 Judy Ann Santos, Filipino actress

• 1981 Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player

• 1981 JP Karliak, American actor, voice actor and comedian

• 1982 Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and singer (died 2013)

• 1983 Matt Leinart, American football player

• 1983 Steven Sotloff, American-Israeli journalist (died 2014)

• 1983 Holly Valance, Australian actress, singer and model

• 1984 Andrés Iniesta, Spanish footballer

• 1985 Beau Ryan, Australian rugby league player and television host

• 1986 Abou Diaby, French footballer

• 1986 Miguel Veloso, Portuguese footballer

• 1987 Lim Seul-ong, South Korean singer and actor

• 1988 Jeremy Maclin, American football player

• 1988 Brad Marchand, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1989 Giovani dos Santos, Mexican footballer

• 1989 Cam Newton, American football player

• 1992 Thibaut Courtois, Belgian footballer

• 1992 Pablo Sarabia, Spanish footballer

• 1992 – Bryan Rust, American ice hockey player

• 1992 Bobi, Portuguese Rafeiro do Alentejo, oldest recorded dog (died 2023)

• 1993 Maurice Harkless, American-Puerto Rican basketball player

• 1993 Miguel Sanó, Dominican baseball player

• 1994 Hagos Gebrhiwet, Ethiopian runner

• 1994 Nene Macdonald, Papua New Guinean rugby league player

• 1995 Gelson Martins, Portuguese footballer

• 1995 Sachia Vickery, American tennis player

• 1995 Shira Haas, Israeli actress

• 1996 Adin Hill, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1997 Coi Leray, American rapper and singer

• 1997 Lana Condor, American actress

• 1998 Viktória Kužmová, Slovak tennis player

• 1999 Sabrina Carpenter, American singer and actress

• 2000 Yūki Tsunoda, Japanese racing driver

• 2000 Wang Chuqin, Chinese table tennis player

• 2003 Fermín López, Spanish footballer

• 2006 Konsta Helenius, Finnish ice hockey player

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 912 Leo VI the Wise, Byzantine Emperor, the second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (born 866)

1601–1900

• 1610 Matteo Ricci, Italian priest and mathematician (born 1552)

• 1778 William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (born 1708)

• 1779 John Hart, American lawyer and politician (born 1711)

• 1812 Spencer Perceval, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1762)

• 1848 Tom Cribb, English boxer (born 1781)

• 1849 Juliette Récamier, French businesswoman (born 1777)

• 1882 Frederick Innes, Scottish-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Tasmania (born 1816)

• 1889 John Cadbury, English businessman and philanthropist, founded the Cadbury Company (born 1801)

1901–present

• 1908 Charles Kingston, Australian politician, 20th Premier of South Australia (born 1850)

• 1916 Karl Schwarzschild, German astronomer and physicist (born 1873)

• 1918 George Elmslie, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Victoria (born 1861)

• 1920 James Colosimo, Italian-American mob boss (born 1878)

• 1920 William Dean Howells, American novelist, literary critic, and playwright (born 1837)

• 1927 Juan Gris, Spanish painter and sculptor (born 1887)

• 1929 Jozef Murgaš, Slovak-American priest, architect, botanist, and painter (born 1864)

• 1938 George Lyon, Canadian golfer and cricketer (born 1858)

• 1946 Seán McCaughey, Irish Republican, died on hunger strike (born 1915)

• 1955 Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer (born 1874)

• 1960 John D. Rockefeller Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (born 1874)

• 1963 Herbert Spencer Gasser, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1888)

• 1964 Janne Mustonen, Finnish politician (born 1901)

• 1967 James E. Brewton, American painter (born 1930)

• 1979 Lester Flatt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1914)

• 1980 Dyre Vaa, Norwegian sculptor and painter (born 1903)

• 1981 Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1897)

• 1981 Bob Marley, Jamaican singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1945)

• 1983 Zenna Henderson, American writer (born 1917)

• 1985 Chester Gould, American cartoonist, created Dick Tracy (born 1900)

• 1986 Fritz Pollard, American football player and coach (born 1894)

• 1987 James Jesus Angleton, CIA counterintelligence leader (born 1917)

• 1988 Kim Philby, British-Soviet double agent (born 1912)

• 1990 Stratos Dionysiou, Greek Singer, composer and lyricist (born 1935)

• 1991 Ulyana Barkova, Russian farm worker (born 1906)

• 1994 Timothy Carey, American actor, director, and producer (born 1928)

• 2001 Douglas Adams, English novelist and screenwriter (born 1952)

• 2002 Renaude Lapointe, Canadian journalist and politician (born 1912)

• 2002 Bill Peet, American animator and screenwriter (born 1915)

• 2003 Noel Redding, English bass player (born 1945)

• 2005 Léo Cadieux, Canadian politician, 17th Canadian Minister of National Defence (born 1908)

• 2005 Horton Davies, Welsh minister and historian (born 1916)

• 2006 Floyd Patterson, American boxer and actor (born 1935)

• 2007 Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan ruler (born 1913)

• 2008 John Rutsey, Canadian drummer (born 1953)

• 2009 Abel Goumba, Central African physician and politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (born 1926)

• 2009 Claudio Huepe, Chilean economist and politician, Chilean Minister Secretary-General of Government (born 1939)

• 2009 Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda, Indian admiral (born 1915)

• 2010 Doris Eaton Travis, American dancer and vaudevillian (born 1904)

• 2011 Robert Traylor, American basketball player (born 1977)

• 2019 Peggy Lipton, American actress, model, and singer (born 1946)

• 2019 Thomas Silverstein, American murderer (born 1952)

• 2020 Jerry Stiller, American comedian, actor (born 1927)

• 2021 Colt Brennan, American quarterback (born 1983)

• 2021 Norman Lloyd, American actor, producer and director (born 1914)

• 2024 Susan Backlinie, American actress and stuntwoman (born 1946)

• 2026 Brandon Clarke, Canadian-American basketball player (born 1996)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

• Anthimus of Rome

• Gangulphus of Burgundy

• Blessed John Rochester

• Ignatius of Laconi

• Majolus of Cluny

• Mamertus, the first of the Ice Saints

References

External links

• BBC: On This Day

• Historical Events on May 11