May 11

### Up to 1900

- 330 – Byzantium is renamed _Nova Roma_ during a dedication ceremony, but is more popularly referred to as Constantinople.
- 868 – A copy of the Diamond Sutra is printed in China, making it the oldest–known dated printed book.
- 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.
- 1672 – Franco–Dutch War: Louis XIV of France invades the Netherlands.
- 1745 – War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy – At Fontenoy, French forces defeat an Anglo–Dutch–Hanoverian army.
- 1792 – Captain Robert Gray becomes the first documented Caucasian to visit the Columbia River.
- 1812 – British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is shot and killed by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons.
- 1813 – In Australia, William Lawson, Gregory B. Laxland and William Wentworth lead an expedition westward from Sydney.
- 1818 – Charles XIV of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
- 1820 – The HMS Beagle has its official launch. Later, one of its most famous passengers would be Charles Darwin.
- 1846 – President of the United States James K. Polk asks for 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 CSS _Virginia_ is scuttled in the James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Yellow Tavern – Confederate General JEB Stuart is mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern, Virginia.
- 1867 – Luxembourg gains its independence.
- 1880 – Seven people are killed in the Mussel Slough tragedy, a gun battle in California.
- 1892 – Johan Petter Johansson of Sweden is granted a patent for the Monkey wrench.
- 1894 – Pullman Strike: Three thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a wildcat strike in Illinois.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1907 – 32 Shriners are killed when their chartered train derails at a switch near Surf Depot in California.
- 1910 – An act of the U.S. Congress establishes Glacier National Park in Montana.
- 1911 – The United States becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires Convention.
- 1918 – The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus is created.
- 1927 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded.
- 1928 – The first analog TV service is inaugurated by WGY, Schenectady, New York.
- 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.
- 1942 – William Faulkner's collections of short stories, _Go Down, Moses_, is published.
- 1943 – World War II: American troops invade Attu in the Aleutian Islands in an attempt to expel occupying Japanese forces.
- 1944 – World War II: The Allies start a major offensive against the Axis Powers on the Gustav Line.
- 1949 – Siam changes its name to Thailand.
- 1949 – Israel joins the United Nations.
- 1953 – The Waco Tornado: An F5 tornado hits downtown Waco, Texas, killing 114.
- 1960 – In Buenos Aires, Argentina, four Israeli Mossad agents capture fugitive Nazi Adolf Eichmann, living under the assumed name Ricardo Klement.
- 1960 – The first contraceptive pill is made available on the market.
- 1967 – Andreas Papandreou, Greek economist and socialist, is imprisoned in Athens by the Greek military junta.
- 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").
- 1970 – Henry "Dickie" Marrow" is murdered in a violent racially–motivated crime in Oxford, N.C..
- 1970 – The Lubbock Tornado: An F5 tornado hits downtown Lubbock, Texas, killing 26.
- 1973 – Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg has his charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to the _New York Times_ dismissed.
- 1974 – An earthquake in Sichuan and Yunnan in China kills 20,000 people.
- 1976 – The last episode of the TV medical drama _Marcus Welby, M.D. _is aired.
- 1983 – Aberdeen F.C. defeats Real Madrid 2–1 to win the European Cup Winners' Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden.
- 1984 – A transit of Earth from Mars takes place; no one is there to observe it.
- 1985 – 56 spectators die when a flash fire strikes a football ground during a match in Bradford, England.
- 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).
- 1995 – In New York City, more than 170 countries decide to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions.
- 1996 – On what was until that point the deadliest day on Mt. Everest, 8 climbers are killed in a snowstorm.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 1998 – ZDTV, "the official technology television network", starts broadcasting. It lasted six years until the G4techTV Merger and it turned into a gaming channel.
- 2000 – India announces that it's reached the population of 1 billion.

### From 2001

- 2003 – Rafael Palmeiro becomes the 19th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas.
- 2004 – The Stockline Plastics factory explosion in Glasgow kills nine people.
- 2005 – The eleventh edition of the International Trade Fair KOSOVA opens in Gjakova, Kosovo.
- 2010 – David Cameron becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- 2011 – Two earthquakes in southern Spain kill at least 10 people.
- 2013 – Over 40 people are killed in a bomb attack in Turkey's Hatay province, near the Syrian border.
- 2013 – A parliamentary election is held in Pakistan, with a record voter turnout. This leads to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returning as Prime Minister on June 5.
- 2013 – Wigan Athletic F.C. wins its first FA Cup after a surprise win over Manchester City in the final, as the first surprise result in the final for a number of years.
- 2015 – Pablo Picasso's _Women of Algiers_ becomes the most expensive painting to sell at auction, being bought for US$179.3 million.
- 2016 – Italy legalizes same-sex civil partnerships.
- 2016 – A series of bomb attacks in Baghdad kills around 90 people.
- 2016 – President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff is impeached.

### Up to 1900

- 478 – Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor (d. 565)
- 1366 – Anne of Bohemia, Queen Consort of Richard II of England (d. 1394)
- 1568 – Christian I, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg (d. 1630)
- 1571 – Niwa Nagashige, Japanese daimyo and retainer (d. 1637)
- 1715 – Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach, son of Johann Sebastian Bach (d. 1739)
- 1720 – Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen, officer and adventurer (d. 1797)
- 1722 – Petrus Camper, Dutch anatomist (d. 1789)
- 1733 – Princess Victoire of France (d. 1799)
- 1752 – Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German anthropologist (d. 1840)
- 1763 – János Bacsanyi, Hungarian poet (d. 1845)
- 1801 – Henri Labrouste, French architect (d. 1875)
- 1811 – Chang and Eng Bunker, famous Siamese twins (d. 1874)
- 1811 – Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel, Swiss politician (d. 1951)
- 1815 – Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, British statesman (d. 1891)
- 1817 – Fanny Cerrito, Italian ballet dancer (d. 1909)
- 1827 – Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, French sculptor and painter (d. 1875)
- 1835 – Karlis Baumanis, Latvian composer and poet (d. 1905)
- 1852 – Charles W. Fairbanks, 26th Vice President of the United States (d. 1918)
- 1854 – Jack Blackham, Australian cricketer (d. 1932)
- 1855 – Anatoly Lyadov, Russian composer (d. 1914)
- 1862 – Franklin S. Billings, Governor of Vermont (d. 1935)
- 1871 – Stjepan Radic, Croatian politician (d. 1928)
- 1874 – Einar Jonsson, Icelandic sculptor (d. 1954)
- 1875 – Harriet Quimby, American pilot (d. 1912)
- 1881 – Al Cabrera, Spanish–born Cuban baseball player (d. 1964)
- 1881 – Jan van Gilse, Dutch composer and conductor (d. 1944)
- 1885 – Joe "King" Oliver, American cornet player and bandleader (d. 1938)
- 1887 – Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian–born pianist (d. 1961)
- 1888 – Irving Berlin, Russian–American composer (d. 1989)
- 1890 – Woodall Rodgers, American attorney, businessman and politician (d. 1961)
- 1891 – Henry Morgenthau, American politician (d. 1967)
- 1892 – Margaret Rutherford, English actress (d. 1972)
- 1894 – Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1991)
- 1895 – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher (d. 1986)
- 1896 – Josip Štolcer-Slavenski Croatian composer (d. 1955)
- 1897 – Kurt Gerron German movie director (d. 1944)
- 1897 – George Murdock, American anthropologist (d. 1985)
- 1899 – Paulino Masip, Spanish playwright (d. 1963)
- 1900 – Pridi Phanomyong, Prime Minister of Siam (d. 1983)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1903 – Charlie Gehringer, American Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1993)
- 1904 – Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter (d. 1989)
- 1907 – Rose Ausländer, German poet (d. 1988)
- 1907 – Rip Sewell, American baseball player (d. 1989)
- 1911 – Phil Silvers, American actor and comedian (d. 1985)
- 1912 – Saadat Hasan Manto, Pakistani short story writer of the Urdu language (d. 1955)
- 1912 – Foster Brooks, American actor and comedian (d. 2001)
- 1913 – Robert Jungk, Austrian publicist (d. 1994)
- 1914 – Haroun Tazieff, French volcanologist and geologist (d. 1998)
- 1916 – Camilo José Cela, Spanish writer (d. 2002)
- 1918 – Richard Feynman, American physicist (d. 1988)
- 1921 – Hildegard Hamm-Brücher, German politician (d. 2016)
- 1924 – Antony Hewish, British radio astronomer
- 1924 – Eugene Dynkin, Russian–born American mathematician (d. 2014)
- 1924 – Jackie Milburn, English footballer (d. 1988)
- 1925 – Max Morlock, German footballer (d. 1994)
- 1925 – Edward J. King, 66th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 2006)
- 1927 – Mort Sahl, Canadian comedian and political commentator
- 1927 – Bernard Fox, Welsh–American actor (d. 2016)
- 1927 – Gene Savoy, American explorer, writer and scholar (d. 2007)
- 1928 – Marco Ferreri, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1997)
- 1930 – Edsger W. Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist (d. 2002)
- 1930 – William P. Carey, American investment banker and philanthropist (d. 2012)
- 1932 – Mustafa Tlass, Syrian military officer and politician (d. 2017)
- 1932 – John Vasconcellos, American politician (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Valentino Garavani, Italian fashion designer
- 1933 – Louis Farrakhan, American Black Muslim leader
- 1934 – Jim Jeffords, American politician, United States Senator from Vermont (d. 2014)
- 1935 – Dick Leitsch, American LGBT rights activist (d. 2018)
- 1936 – Tony Barrow, British press officer (d. 2016)
- 1936 – Carla Bley, American musician and composer
- 1939 – Frank Quilici, American baseball player (d. 2018)
- 1940 – Juan Downey, Chilean video artist (d. 1993)
- 1941 – Graham Miles, English snooker player
- 1941 – Ian Redpath, Australian cricketer
- 1943 – Les Chadwick, English musician (Gerry and the Pacemakers)
- 1945 – Floyd Adams, Jr., American politician (d. 2014)
- 1946 – Robert Jarvik, American physicist and inventor
- 1947 – Butch Trucks, American musician
- 1948 – Shigeru Izumiya, Japanese folk musician
- 1950 – Jeremy Paxman, British journalist and writer
- 1950 – John F. Kelly, 28th White House Chief of Staff
- 1950 – Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Indian actor (d. 2014)

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Ed Stelmach, Canadian politician, former Premier of Alberta
- 1951 – Johnny Doyle, Scottish footballer (d. 1981)
- 1952 – Renaud Séchan, French composer
- 1952 – Mike Lupica, sports journalist
- 1952 – Shohreh Aghdashloo, Iranian actress
- 1952 – Frances Fisher, British–American actress
- 1953 – Boyd Gaines, actor
- 1953 – David Gest, American television producer (d. 2016)
- 1956 – Theresa Burke, Canadian journalist
- 1956 – Alex Lester, British broadcaster
- 1957 – Peter North, Canadian pornographic actor, director, producer and dancer
- 1958 – Peter Antonie, Australian rower
- 1959 – Silvio Barbato, Italian–Brazilian opera conductor and composer (d. 2009)
- 1959 – Martha Quinn, American television personality
- 1960 – Jürgen Schult, German athlete
- 1963 – Gunilla Carlsson, Swedish politician
- 1963 – Masatoshi Hamada, Japanese comedian
- 1963 – Natasha Richardson, English actress (d. 2009)
- 1964 – John Parrott, English snooker player
- 1965 – Stefano Domenicali, Italian Formula One team principal
- 1966 – Christoph Schneider, German drummer (Rammstein)
- 1966 – Nancy Hower, American actress, sceenwriter, director, and producer
- 1968 – Jeffrey Donovan, American actor
- 1968 – Ana Jara, Peruvian lawyer and politician, former Prime Minister of Peru
- 1973 – James Haven, American actor
- 1973 – Tsuyoshi Ogata, Japanese marathon runner
- 1974 – DJ Zany, Dutch DJ
- 1975 – Coby Bell, American actor and producer

### From 1976

- 1977 – Janne Ahonen, Finnish ski jumper
- 1977 – Victor Matfield, South African rugby player
- 1978 – Laetitia Casta, French model and actress
- 1978 – Perttu Kivilaakso, Finnish cellist and composer (Apocalyptica)
- 1979 – Gonzalo Colsa, Spanish footballer
- 1979 – Tim Baillie, Scottish slalom canoeist
- 1980 – Björgólfur Hideaki Takefusa, Icelandic footballer
- 1980 – Ernest Vardanean, Armenian–Moldovan political scientist and journalist
- 1981 – Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
- 1982 – Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and musician (d. 2013)
- 1982 – Jonathan Jackson, actor
- 1983 – Matt Leinart, American football player
- 1983 – Holly Valance, Australian actress and singer
- 1983 – Steven Sotloff, American journalist (d. 2014)
- 1984 – Andrés Iniesta, Spanish footballer
- 1984 – Arttu Lappi, Finnish ski jumper
- 1986 – Abou Diaby, French footballer
- 1988 – Ace Hood, American rapper
- 1988 – Marcel Kittel, German cyclist
- 1988 – Brad Marchand, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1988 – Severin Freund, German ski jumper
- 1989 – Giovani dos Santos, Mexican footballer
- 1989 – Prince Royce, American singer and songwriter
- 1989 – Cam Newton, American football player
- 1991 – Mohammad Reza Khanzadeh, Iranian footballer
- 1992 – Thibaut Courtois, Belgian footballer
- 1993 – Jirapong Meenapra, Thai sprinter
- 1993 – Maurice Harkless, American basketball player
- 1994 – Hagos Gebrhiwet, Ethiopian long–distance runner
- 1995 – Yassi Pressman, Filipina actress and dancer
- 1999 – Sabrina Carpenter, American actress and singer
- 1999 – Madison Lintz, American actress

### Up to 1975

- 912 – Leo VI, Byzantine Emperor (b. 866)
- 1304 – Mahmud Ghazan, Mongol ruler (b. 1271)
- 1610 – Matteo Ricci, Italian missionary (b. 1552)
- 1642 – Safi of Persia (b. 1611)
- 1686 – Otto von Guericke, German physicist and politician (b. 1602)
- 1760 – Alaungpaya, Burmese ruler (b. 1714)
- 1778 – William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Prime Minister of Great Britain (b. 1708)
- 1812 – Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1762).
- 1848 – Tom Cribb, English boxer (b. 1781)
- 1849 – Otto Nicolai, German composer (b. 1810)
- 1871 – John Herschel, British mathematician and astronomer (b. 1792)
- 1883 – Julie Drouet, French actress (b. 1806)
- 1887 – Ion Keith-Falconer, Scottish missionary (b. 1856)
- 1889 – John Cadbury, English businessman (b. 1801)
- 1891 – A. E. Becquerel, French physicist (b. 1820)
- 1915 – Arthur Hussey, American golfer (b. 1882)
- 1916 – Max Reger, German pianist, composer and conductor (b. 1873)
- 1916 – Karl Schwarzschild, German astronomer and physicist (b. 1873)
- 1927 – Juan Gris, Spanish Cubist painter (b. 1887)
- 1929 – Jozef Murgas, Slovakian inventor, architect, botanist, painter, patriot and priest (b. 1864)
- 1934 – Blaise Diagne, Senegalese politician (b. 1872)
- 1937 – Afonso Costa, Portuguese politician (b. 1871)
- 1952 – Alessio Ascalesi, Italian cardinal (b. 1872)
- 1955 – Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer (b. 1874)
- 1956 – Walter Sydney Adams, American astronomer (b. 1876)
- 1960 – John D. Rockefeller, Jr., American philanthropist (b. 1874)
- 1962 – Hans Luther, Chancellor of Germany in the Weimar Republic (b. 1879)
- 1963 – Herbert Gasser, American doctor, won the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1888)
- 1966 – Henry S. Caulfield, 31st Governor of Missouri (b. 1873)
- 1971 – Seán Lamass, Irish Taoiseach (b. 1902)
- 1973 – Lex Barker, American actor (b. 1919)

### 1976 – 2010

- 1976 – Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect (b. 1898)
- 1981 – Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist (b. 1897)
- 1981 – Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae musician (b. 1945)
- 1984 – Toni Turek, German footballer (b. 1919)
- 1986 – Alexander Akimov, Ukrainian Chernobyl worker (b. 1953)
- 1988 – Kim Philby, British agent and spy (b. 1912)
- 1994 – Timothy Carey, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1996 – Yasuko Namba, Japanese mountaineer (b. 1949)
- 1996 – Ademir Marques de Menezes, Brazilian footballer (b. 1922)
- 1996 – Nnamdi Azikiwe, first President of Nigeria (b. 1904)
- 1996 – Rob Hall, New Zealand mountaineer (b. 1961)
- 1998 – Ernst Ising, German mathematician (b. 1900)
- 2000 – Paula Wessely, Austrian actress (b. 1907)
- 2001 – Douglas Adams, English writer (b. 1952)
- 2002 – Joseph Bonanno, Italian mob boss (b. 1905)
- 2002 – Bill Peet, American screenwriter and animator (b. 1915)
- 2003 – Noel Redding, English musician (b. 1945)
- 2006 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (b. 1935)
- 2007 – Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan Head of State (b. 1913)
- 2008 – Bruno Neves, Portuguese cyclist (b. 1981)

### From 2011

- 2011 – Maurice Goldhaber, physicist (b. 1911)
- 2014 – Francisco Sobrino, Mexican–Spanish sculptor (b. 1932)
- 2014 – Barbara Knudson, American actress (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Reg Gasnier, Australian rugby league player (b. 1939)
- 2015 – Jef Geeraerts, Belgian writer (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Stan Cornyn, American record label executive (b. 1933)
- 2015 – John Hewie, South African–Scottish footballer (b. 1927)
- 2015 – John Watts, Grenadian politician (b. 1921)
- 2016 – Motiur Rahman Nizami, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1943)
- 2016 – Peter Behrens, German musician (b. 1947)
- 2016 – Tony Cozier, Barbadian cricket writer and commentator (b. 1940)
- 2016 – Katherine Dunn, American writer (b. 1945)
- 2016 – Michael Ratner, American lawyer (b. 1943)
- 2016 – Joe Temperley, Scottish saxophonist (b. 1929)
- 2017 – Gabriel Chiramel, Indian Roman Catholic priest, educator, zoologist and writer (b. 1914)
- 2017 – Mark Colvin, British–born Australian journalist and radio presenter (b. 1952)
- 2017 – Clelio Darida, Italian politician, former Mayor of Rome (b. 1927)
- 2018 – Mikhail Alperin, Ukrainian–Norwegian jazz pianist (b. 1956)
- 2018 – Gérard Genette, French literary theorist (b. 1930)
- 2018 – Hugo Guerra, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1966)
- 2018 – Peter Mayer, British–American publisher (b. 1936)
- 2018 – Bengt Nilsson, Swedish high jumper (b. 1934)
- 2018 – Ulla Sallert, Swedish actress (b. 1923)
- 2019 – Gianni De Michelis, Italian politician (b. 1940)
- 2019 – Silver King, Mexican wrestler and actor (b. 1968)
- 2019 – Peggy Lipton, American actress and model (b. 1946)
- 2019 – Pua Magasiva, New Zealand actor (b. 1980)
- 2019 – Jon Gittens, English footballer (b. 1964)
- 2019 – Robert D. Maxwell, American colonel (b. 1920)
- 2019 – Thomas Silverstein, American murderer (b. 1952)

## Observances

- National Technology Day (India)
- Statehood Day (Minnesota)