May 11 in History

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 hits Lorca, Spain.

The Istanbul Convention is signed in Istanbul, Turkey.

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.

An American soldier in Iraq opens fire on a counseling center at Camp Liberty in Baghdad, killing five other US soldiers and wounding three.

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

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

India conducts three underground atomic tests in Pokhran.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

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

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.

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

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

Minnesota becomes the 32nd U.S. state.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Konsta Helenius, Finnish ice hockey player

Fermín López, Spanish footballer

Yūki Tsunoda, Japanese racing driver

Wang Chuqin, Chinese table tennis player

Sabrina Carpenter, American singer and actress

Viktória Kužmová, Slovak tennis player

Coi Leray, American rapper and singer

Lana Condor, American actress

Adin Hill, Canadian ice hockey player

Gelson Martins, Portuguese footballer

Sachia Vickery, American tennis player

Shira Haas, Israeli actress

Hagos Gebrhiwet, Ethiopian runner

Nene Macdonald, Papua New Guinean rugby league player

Maurice Harkless, American-Puerto Rican basketball player

Miguel Sanó, Dominican baseball player

Thibaut Courtois, Belgian footballer

Pablo Sarabia, Spanish footballer

Bryan Rust, American ice hockey player

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

Giovani dos Santos, Mexican footballer

Cam Newton, American football player

Jeremy Maclin, American football player

Brad Marchand, Canadian ice hockey player

Lim Seul-ong, South Korean singer and actor

Abou Diaby, French footballer

Miguel Veloso, Portuguese footballer

Beau Ryan, Australian rugby league player and television host

Andrés Iniesta, Spanish footballer

Matt Leinart, American football player

Steven Sotloff, American-Israeli journalist (died 2014)

Holly Valance, Australian actress, singer and model

Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and singer (died 2013)

Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player

JP Karliak, American actor, voice actor and comedian

Laetitia Casta, French model and actress

Judy Ann Santos, Filipino actress

Pablo Gabriel García, Uruguayan footballer

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

Bobby Roode, Canadian professional wrestler

Kardinal Offishall, Canadian rapper and record producer/executive

Francisco Cordero, Dominican baseball player

Ziad Jarrah, Lebanese terrorist, September 11 attacks (died 2001)[citation needed]

Stanley Gene, Papua New Guinean rugby league player

Harold Ford Jr., American lawyer and politician

Mitch Healey, Australian rugby league player and coach

Simon Vroemen, Dutch runner

Alberto García Aspe, Mexican footballer and manager

Tim Blake Nelson, American actor

Bobby Witt, American baseball player

Natasha Richardson, English actress (died 2009)

Sayuri Kume, Japanese singer-songwriter

Mike Nesbitt, Northern Irish journalist and politician

James L. Dolan, American businessman

John Gregory, English footballer and manager

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

Jeremy Paxman, English journalist and author

Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Indian actor (died 2014)

Nirj Deva, British politician

Pam Ferris, Welsh actress

Butch Trucks, American drummer (died 2017)

Hilda Pérez Carvajal, Venezuelan biologist

Nancy Greene Raine, Canadian skier and politician

Eric Burdon, English musician

Ian Redpath, Australian cricketer and coach (died 2024)

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

Jim Jeffords, American lawyer and politician (died 2014)

Jack Twyman, American basketball player (died 2012)

Louis Farrakhan, American religious leader

Valentino Garavani, Italian fashion designer (died 2026)

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

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

Gerhard Klingenberg, Austrian actor (died 2024)

Arthur Foulkes, 9th governor-general of the Bahamas

Bernard Fox, British actor (died 2016)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Foster Brooks, American actor and comedian (died 2001)

Phil Silvers, American actor and comedian (died 1985)

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

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

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

Salvador Dalí, Spanish artist (died 1989)

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

Rose Ausländer, poet and author (died 1988)

Gladys Rockmore Davis, American painter (died 1967)

Robert E. Gross, American businessman (died 1961)

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

Jacques Brugnon, French tennis player (died 1978)

Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher and speaker (died 1986)

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

Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (died 1991)

Willie Applegarth, English-American sprinter (died 1958)

Helge Løvland, Norwegian decathlete (died 1984)

Paul Nash, British painter (died 1946)

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

Willis Augustus Lee, American admiral (died 1945)

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

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

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

Harriet Quimby, American pilot and screenwriter (died 1912)

Frank Schlesinger, American astronomer and author (died 1943)

Archibald Warden, English tennis player (died 1943)

Jack Blackham, Australian cricketer (died 1932)

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

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

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

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

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German physician, physiologist, and anthropologist (died 1840): 94

Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach, German organist (died 1739)

Sophie Axelsdatter Brahe, Danish noblewoman (died 1646)

Niwa Nagashige, Japanese daimyō (died 1637)

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

Susan Backlinie, American actress and stuntwoman (born 1946)

Colt Brennan, American quarterback (born 1983)

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

Jerry Stiller, American comedian, actor (born 1927)

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

Thomas Silverstein, American murderer (born 1952)

Robert Traylor, American basketball player (born 1977)

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

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

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

Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda, Indian admiral (born 1915)

John Rutsey, Canadian drummer (born 1953)

Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan ruler (born 1913)

Floyd Patterson, American boxer and actor (born 1935)

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

Horton Davies, Welsh minister and historian (born 1916)

Noel Redding, English bass player (born 1945)

Renaude Lapointe, Canadian journalist and politician (born 1912)

Bill Peet, American animator and screenwriter (born 1915)

Douglas Adams, English novelist and screenwriter (born 1952)

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

Ulyana Barkova, Russian farm worker (born 1906)

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

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

James Jesus Angleton, CIA counterintelligence leader (born 1917)

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

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

Zenna Henderson, American writer (born 1917)

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

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

Dyre Vaa, Norwegian sculptor and painter (born 1903)

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

James E. Brewton, American painter (born 1930)

Janne Mustonen, Finnish politician (born 1901)

Herbert Spencer Gasser, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1888): 169

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

Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer (born 1874)

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

George Lyon, Canadian golfer and cricketer (born 1858)

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

Juan Gris, Spanish painter and sculptor (born 1887)

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

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

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

Karl Schwarzschild, German astronomer and physicist (born 1873): xix

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

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

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

Juliette Récamier, French businesswoman (born 1777)

Tom Cribb, English boxer (born 1781)

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

John Hart, American lawyer and politician (born 1711)

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

Matteo Ricci, Italian priest and mathematician (born 1552)

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