May 11: Today in History – Historical Events
Early Centuries – May 11 Historic Events – Before the 1700s
1. 11th May 1421: On this day in Austria Jews were expelled from Styria.
2. 11th May 1502: Columbus today began his 4th voyage, his last, to the “Indies”.
3. 11th May 1674: A peace treaty was signed today Netherlands and Cologne.
4. 11th May 1678: The fleet led by French admiral Jean d’Estree ran aground on Aves Island in Curacao.
18th Century – What Happened on May 11 – The 1700s
5. 11th May 1749: The Consolidation Act, which reorganized the Royal Navy was today accepted by the British Parliament.
6. 11th May 1751: Dr. Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin founded the Pennsylvania Hospital today.
7. 11th May 1752: The first fire insurance policy in the US was issued today in Pennsylvania.
8. 11th May 1772: A fire today destroyed Amsterdam Theater. 18 people perished in the fire.
9. 11th May 1784: In India, a peace treaty was signed today by the British and Tippu Sultan of Mysore.
19th Century – May 11 This Day That Year – The 1800s
10. 11th May 1812: The dance form Waltz made its debut in the English ballroom today. Most observers thought it to be immoral and therefore disgusting.
11. 11th May 1814: In the battle of Plattsburgh the Americans today defeated the British.
12. 11th May 1816: The American Bible Association was formed in New York City today.
13. 11th May 1820: This day marks the launch of the ship HMS Beagle, the ship that took Charles Darwin on his scientific voyage.
14. 11th May 1833: The ship “Lady-of-The-Lake, sank after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic, killing 215 people.
15. 11th May 1850: The work on the first brick building in San Francisco started today.
16. 11th May 1853: Chateau Mouton in France was today bought for 1,125,000 gold francs by Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild of England.
17. 11th May 1858: The State of Minnesota was today admitted to the United States. It was the 32nd state to be admitted.
18. 11th May 1864: At the Yellow Tavern Confederate General J. E. B. Stuart was mortally wounded today.
19. 11th May 1866: Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president was today released from prison after serving two years imprisonment for his role in the American Civil War.
20. 11th May 1866: The Overend Gurney, which was known as the banker’s bank, today went into liquidation. It owed its shareholders and the public £11 million.
21. 11th May 1867: The treaty concerning Luxemburg, the Treaty of London was drawn today.
22. 11th May 1889: In a train robbery, $28,000 carried by Major Joseph Washington, for disbursement of salary to the troops in the Arizona territory was stolen today.
23. 11th May 1891: Price Nicolas, who later became Tsar Nicolas II, escaped an assassination attempt today, while he was visiting Japan.
24. 11th May 1893: The first bicycle world record of 35.325 KM was established today by Henri Desgrange.
25. 11th May 1894: Workers of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Illinois went on a strike led by Eugene Debs of the American Railway Union.
20th Century – Important Events On This Day May 11th – The 1900s
26. 11th May 1904: Industrialist and Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie today donated $1.5 million for the construction of a peace palace.
27. 11th May 1907: The Incorporation of the Bank of San Francisco took place today.
28. 11th May 1907: A train chartered by Shriners jumped off the rail at a Switch near Surf Depot and derailed. 32 Shriners were killed in the accident.
29. 11th May 1910: This day marks the formation of Glacier National Park of Montana.
30. 11th May 1911: The Buenos Aries copyright treaty was today signed by the United States of America.
31. 11th May 1917: The Royal Letters Patent was today granted to New Zealand by King George V.
32. 11th May 1921: Germany today heeded to warning issued by the Supreme Council to pay repatriation, failing which the entire Ruhr Valley will be occupied.
33. 11th May 1921: The first all-Jewish municipality was today formed in Tel Aviv.
34. 11th May 1924: A joint venture was established between Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and Benz & Cie, which was their first joint venture which later merged into Mercedes-Benz.
35. 11th May 1925: The Communist Party of Holland split today.
36. 11th May 1926: An airship “Airship Norge” in its attempt for the first air crossing of the Atlantic Ocean left Spitsbergen today.
37. 11th May 1927: An Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science was today formed by Louis B Mayer.
38. 11th May 1928: In Schenectady City in New York, General Electric opened its first TV station today.
39. 11th May 1929: The Delta Kappa Gamma Society was today formed in Austin Texas by Dr. Annie Web Blanton.
40. 11th May 1931: A financial collapse began in Central Europe with the failure of Austria’s largest bank, “Credit-Anstalt”.
41. 11th May 1940: The World’s Fair in New York re-opened today.
42. 11th May 1942: Kalewa was today conquered by the Japanese troops.
43. 11th May 1942: A collection of short stories “Go Down, Moses” by author and Nobel Laureate William Faulkner was published today.
44. 11th May 1943: Nazi Politician Hermann Goering led the division in Tunisia that surrendered today to the Allies.
45. 11th May 1944: A major offensive against the German lines in Italy was launched by the Allied forces today.
46. 11th May 1945: The US carrier Bunker Hill was knocked out of the war near Okinawa when a Japanese pilot Kiyoshi Ogawa crashed his plane into the ship. 495 Americans died with him.
47. 11th May 1946: The first of the relief packages dispatched by CARE, Cooperative for American Remittances in Europe, arrived in Europe today.
48. 11th May 1947: Tubeless tire was developed by The B.F. Goodrich Company of Akron, Ohio.
49. 11th May 1949: This day marks the sale of the first Polaroid camera. It was sold for $89.95 in New York City.
50. 11th May 1949: The name of Siam was today changed to Thailand.
51. 11TH May 1949: The United Nations today admitted Israel as its 59th member by a vote of 37-12. The capital city was shifted to Tel Aviv.
52. 11th May 1951: Computer core memory was today patented by Jay Forrester.
53. 11th May 1960: Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was today captured by Israeli soldiers in Buenos Aries. He was tried in Israel and was hanged in 1962.
54. 11th May 1962: The US today performed an atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Islands.
55. 11th May 1963: Racial bomb attacks broke out in Birmingham Alabama.
56. 11th May 1965: The USSR today performed a nuclear test at the Semipalitinsk in Eastern Kazakhstan USSR.
57. 11th May 1967: The siege of the Khe Sanh came to an end today in Vietnam with the base still in American hands.
58. 11th May 1967: In the US the hundred millionth phone was connected today.
59. 11th May 1968: Prime Minister Georges Pompidou of France in his speech today conceded to the demand of reopening the university and implied that the government would release arrested students.
60. 11th May 1969: This day marks the beginning of the battle of Hamburg Hills.
61. 11th May 1969: It was today announced by the CBC of Canada that it will not accept advertisements from tobacco companies henceforth.
62. 11th May 1970: The song by the Beatles “Long & Winding Road” was today released in the US.
63. 11th May 1972: The US today performed a nuclear test at its Nevada Test Site.
64. 11th May 1974: The ultra-right group today killed Carlos Mugica, a leftist liberation theology priest in Argentina.
65. 11th May 1975: A trade agreement with the European Economic Market was signed today by Israel.
66. 11th May 1975: An American merchant ship “Mayaguez” was today seized by the Cambodian government.
67. 11th May 1978: Margaret A Brewer today became the general of the US Marine Corps, the first female to hold that post.
68. 11th May 1985: A flash fire spread across a soccer stadium in Bradford, England, when it was jam-packed. 56 people died in the fire.
69. 11th May 1985: In India a booby trap bomb went off killing 86 people.
70. 11th May 1987: In India, President’s rule was declared in the state of Punjab.
71. 11th May 1987: The first heart-lung transplant took place in Baltimore. The heart and lungs of an auto accident victim were transplanted to Clinton House in Baltimore today.
72. 11th May 1988: France performed a nuclear test today.
73. 11th May 1989: 2000 troops were ordered to Panama by President Bush.
74. 11th May 1989: The final episode of “Dynasty” was aired today. It was the 215th episode.
75. 11th May 1989: France today conducted a nuclear test at their test site at Muruora Island.
76. 11th May 1989: To protect its elephant, Kenya today announced a worldwide ban on ivory.
77. 11th May 1993: In Bangalore India, a toy factory catches fire taking a toll of over 200.
78. 11th May 1998: India resumed underground nuclear tests after 20 years and successfully carried out a nuclear test at Pokhran today.
79. 11th May 1998: The first indigenously aircraft “Hansa-3” was test flown today at Bangalore in India.
80. 11th May 1999: In Russia, Impeachment procedures against Pres. Yeltsin was initiated today.
81. 11th May 1999: In Iraq, air defense targets both in Northern and Southern Iraq were bombed by US and British warplanes after they were targeted by radar.
21st Century – May 11 This Day In History – The 2000s
82. 11th May 2000: 18 soldiers were killed when a Russian troop convoy was ambushed by Chechen rebels west of Chechen.
83. 11th May 2001: Israeli bulldozers today razed down a police station and five homes in Gaza. Downtown Gaza City was hit by surface-to-air missiles.
84. 11th May 2002: The military attack on Gaza was put on hold when about 50,000 people protested for peace in Tel Aviv. Israel pulled out of West Bank and Palestinian towns were now free of Israeli soldiers.
85. 11th May 2003: Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain’s Baath party was declared dead by the United States today.
86. 11th May 2004: Oil prices rose to a 13-year high when oil on June delivery rose to 40.06 per barrel.
87. 11th May 2004: In India the stock prices fell sharply, the deepest plunge in four years due to fears of the government’s liberal economic policies faltering in the event of the ruling coalition not getting elected.
88. 11th May 2005: A gas explosion occurred at a coal mine in northeastern China. Nine miners were killed in the explosion.
89. 11th May 2006: The plan to blanket the city’s 135 square miles with a high-speed wireless internet connection was today unanimously approved by the City Council of Philadelphia.
90. 11th May 2007: Gordon Brown today launched his campaign to become the next Prime Minister of Britain. He pledged to learn from the mistakes of the Iraq war. Tony Blair formally endorsed his candidature.
91. 11th May 2008: In the northeast region of Assam in India suspected rebels today shot dead eight railroad workers.
92. 11th May 2009: On a mission to repair the Hubble telescope, the space shuttle Atlantis blasted off from Cape Canaveral with seven astronauts on board.
93. 11th May 2010: The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has threaded sensitive marshes and wildlife along the Gulf Coast. Admiral Thad Allan was appointed to lead the federal response to the oil spill.
94. 11th May 2011: Sherpa Apa Sherpa of Nepal achieved a new record by climbing Mount Everest 21 times.
95. 11th May 2012: The report of US researchers states that the leading causes of the world’s child mortality rate are preventable infections. It states that 60% of the 7.6 million children, who died, died due to infections like Pneumonia.
96. 11th May 2013: In Egypt, a retrial of its former President Hosni Mubarak was conducted over his alleged role and complicity in the death of protesters during the 2011 Egypt revolution.
97. 11th May 2013: Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne today announced that G7 ministers and Central Bankers have agreed to take coordinated action against tax evaders.
98. 11th May 2014: Electronics manufacturer Samsung, known for its smartphone is now diversifying into the pharmaceutical Industry, wanting to become a leader in the biotechnology sector.
99. 11th May 2015: Christie’s auction in New York set a world record when it sold “Women of Algiers Version O” by Picasso for $ 160 million and a sculpture by Alberto Giacometti, “Pointing Man” for $ 141.3 million.
100. 11th May 2016: Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India arrived in Sri Lanka on a two-day visit.
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