Today May 11th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
330 – Byzantium is renamed Nova Roma during a dedication ceremony, but is more popularly referred to as Constantinople.
1310 – Fifty-four members of the Knights Templar are burned at the stake in France for being heretics.
1502 – Christopher Columbus leaves for his fourth and final voyage to the West Indies.
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 white person to sail into the Columbia River.
1812 – Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons, London.
1813 – In Australia, William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth, lead an expedition westwards from Sydney. Their route opens up inland Australia for continued expansion throughout the 19th century.
1820 – Launch of HMS Beagle the ship that took young Charles Darwin on his scientific voyage.
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.
1867 – Luxembourg gains its independence.
1891 – The Otsu Scandal takes place.
1894 – Pullman Strike: Four thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a wildcat strike in Illinois.
1907 – A derailment outside Lompoc, California kills 32 Shriners when their chartered train jumps off the tracks at a switch near Surf Depot.
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 copyright treaty.
1918 – The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus is officially established.
1924 – Mercedes-Benz is formed by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz merging the two companies.
1927 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded.
1942 – William Faulkner s collections of short stories, Go Down, Moses, is published.
1943 – World War II: American troops invade Attu Island 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.
1946 – UMNO is created.
1949 – Siam officially changes its name to Thailand, a name in use since 1939.
1949 – Israel joins the United Nations.
1953 – The 1953 Waco tornado outbreak: 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 politician, is imprisoned in Athens by the Greek military junta.
1968 – The Toronto Transit Commission opens the largest expansion of its Bloor-Danforth Line, going to Scarborough in the east, and Etobicoke in the west.
1973 – Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg has his charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times dismissed.
1984 – A transit of Earth from Mars takes place.
1985 – Fifty-six 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 – In Baltimore, Maryland, The first heart-lung transplant takes place. The surgery is performed by Dr. Bruce Reitz, of Stanford University School of Medicine.
1995 – In New York City, more than 170 countries decide to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions.
1996 – After taking-off from Miami, Florida, 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 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 nuclear tests in Pokhran, including a thermonuclear device.
2007 – Pope Benedict XVI canonizes the first Brazilian-born saint, Frei Galvão.
Births
1571 – Niwa Nagashige, Japanese warlord (d. 1637)
1720 – Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen, German adventurer (d. 1797)
1722 – Petrus Camper, Dutch anatomist (d. 1789)
1733 – Victoire of France, daughter of king Louis XV (d. 1799)
1752 – Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German anthropologist (d. 1840)
1763 – János Batsányi, Hungarian poet (d. 1845)
1799 – John Lowell, American philanthropist (d. 1836)
1801 – Henri Labrouste, French architect (d. 1875)
1811 – Chang and Eng Bunker, famous conjoined twins (d. 1874)
1811 – Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1893)
1817 – Fanny Cerrito, Italian ballet dancer (d. 1909)
1824 – Jean-Léon Gérôme, French painter and sculptor (d. 1904)
1827 – Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, French sculptor and painter (d. 1875)
1835 – Karlis Baumanis, Latvian composer (d. 1905)
1838 – Walter Goodman, British painter, illustrator and author (d. 1912)
1852 – Charles W. Fairbanks, United States Vice President (d. 1918)
1854 – Jack Blackham, Australian cricketer (d. 1932)
1861 – Frederick Russell Burnham, father of the international scouting movement (d. 1947)
1871 – Stjepan Radic, Croatian politician (d. 1928)
1871 – Frank Schlesinger, American astronomer (d. 1943)
1875 – Harriet Quimby, American aviator (d. 1912)
1881 – Al Cabrera, Spanish-born Cuban baseball player (d. 1964)
1881 – Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian physicist (d. 1963)
1881 – Jan van Gilse, Dutch composer and conductor (d. 1944)
1888 – Irving Berlin, American composer (d. 1989)
1888 – Willis A. Lee, World War II U.S. naval admiral (d. 1945)
1890 – Woodall Rodgers, mayor of Dallas, Texas (d. 1961)
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 director (d. 1944)
1897 – Robert E. Gross, American businessman (d. 1961)
1899 – Paulino Masip, Spanish playwright (d. 1963)
1903 – Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player (d. 1993)
1904 – Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter (d. 1989)
1907 – Rose Ausländer, German poet (d. 1988)
1907 – Rip Sewell, American baseball player (d. 1989)
1909 – Ellis R Dungan, American born Indian film director (d. 2001)
1909 – Herbert Murrill, English composer (d. 1952)
1911 – Mitchell Sharp, Canadian politician (d. 2004)
1911 – Phil Silvers, American actor and comedian (d. 1985)
1912 – Foster Brooks, American actor and comedian (d. 2001)
1913 – Robert Jungk, Austrian publicist (d. 1994)
1914 – Haroun Tazieff, French volcanologist (d. 1998)
1916 – Camilo José Cela, Spanish writer, Nobel laureate (d. 2002)
1918 – Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1988)
1921 – Hildegard Hamm-Brücher, German politician
1922 – Nestor Chylak, American baseball umpire (d. 1992)
1922 – Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
1924 – Eugene Dynkin, Russian mathematician
1924 – Antony Hewish, English radio astronomer, Nobel laureate
1925 – Edward J. King, 66th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 2006)
1927 – Mort Sahl, Canadian comedian and political commentator
1927 – Gene Savoy, American author, explorer, scholar and cleric (d. 2007)
1928 – Yaacov Agam, Israeli sculptor
1928 – Brother Andrew, Dutch missionary
1928 – Marco Ferreri, Italian film director and screenwriter (d. 1997)
1930 – Edsger Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist (d. 2002)
1930 – Bud Ekins, American stuntman (d. 2007)
1933 – Louis Farrakhan, American Black Muslim leader
1934 – Jim Jeffords, former American politician
1935 – Doug McClure, American actor (d. 1995)
1935 – Francisco Umbral, Spanish novelist (d. 2007)
1936 – Carla Bley, American musician and composer
1939 – Carlos Lyra, Brazilian musician
1939 – Dante Tinga, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
1940 – Juan Downey, Chilean video artist (d. 1993)
1941 – Eric Burdon, British singer (The Animals)
1941 – Graham Miles, English snooker player
1942 – Rachel Billington, British author
1943 – Nancy Greene, Canadian alpine skier
1943 – Juliet Harmer, English actress
1946 – Robert Jarvik, American physician and inventor
1946 – Plume Latraverse, Quebec singer and musician
1947 – Butch Trucks, American drummer (The Allman Brothers Band)
1948 – Nirj Deva, Sri Lankan-British politician
1948 – Shigeru Izumiya, Japanese folk musician
1950 – Dane Iorg, American baseball player
1950 – Jeremy Paxman, British journalist and author
1952 – Shohreh Aghdashloo, Iranian actress
1952 – Frances Fisher, English-born actress
1952 – Mike Lupica, American sports journalist
1952 – Renaud Séchan, French composer
1952 – Warren Littlefield, American television executive
1953 – David Gest, American television producer
1953 – Céline Lomez, Quebec singer and actress
1954 – John Gregory, English football manager
1954 – Lubomir Stoykov, Bulgarian journalist and broadcaster
1955 – John DeStefano, Jr., American politician
1956 – Theresa Burke, Canadian journalist
1956 – Alex Lester, British broadcaster
1957 – Peter North, Canadian porn star
1958 – Christian Brando, American actor; son of Marlon Brando (d. 2008)
1958 – Phil Smyth, Australian basketball player
1958 – Walt Terrell, American baseball player
1959 – Martha Quinn, American television personality
1963 – Gunilla Carlsson, Swedish politician
1963 – Masatoshi Hamada, Japanese comedian
1963 – Natasha Richardson, English-born actress
1963 – Roark Critchlow, actor
1964 – John Parrott, English snooker player
1964 – Katie Wagner, American television reporter
1964 – Floyd Youmans, American baseball player
1965 – Greg Dulli, American musician
1965 – Monsour del Rosario, Filipino martial artist and actor
1966 – Christoph Schneider, German drummer (Rammstein)
1968 – Jeffrey Donovan, American actor
1970 – Nicky Katt, American actor
1970 – Glenn Hugill, British television presenter and producer
1972 – Anita Hegh, Australian actress
1972 – Daniel Ornellas, Zimbabwean musician
1973 – James Haven, American actor
1974 – Kevin Brown, English-born Canadian ice hockey player
1974 – Stanley Gene, Papua New Guinean rugby league footballer
1974 – Billy Kidman, American professional wrestler
1974 – Benoît Magimel, French actor
1974 – Darren Ward, Welsh footballer
1975 – Francisco Cordero, Dominican baseball player
1977 – Janne Ahonen, Finnish ski jumper
1977 – Gonzalo Colsa, Spanish footballer
1977 – Pablo García, Uruguayan footballer
1977 – Victor Matfield, South African rugby union footballer
1977 – Matthew Newton, Australian actor
1978 – Laetitia Casta, French supermodel and actress
1978 – Perttu Kivilaakso, Finnish Cellist (Apocalyptica)
1979 – Erin Lang, Canadian musician
1981 – Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
1981 – Daniel Ortmeier, American baseball player
1981 – Austin O Brien, American actor
1982 – Jonathan Jackson, American actor
1982 – Andrew Walter, American football player
1983 – Matt Leinart, American football player
1983 – Holly Valance, Australian-born actress and singer
1983 – Frédéric Xhonneux, Belgian decathlete
1984 – Andres Iniesta, Spanish football player
1985 – sifow, Japanese pop star and business woman
1986 – Abou Diaby, French footballer
1986 – Miguel Veloso, Portuguese footballer
1986 – Ronny, Brazilian footballer
1986 – Manuel Grubby Schenkhuizen, Dutch Professional Gamer
1987 – Justin King, American football player
1987 – Louis Murphy, American college football player
1987 – Monica Rosu, Romanian gymnast
1989 – Giovani dos Santos, Mexican footballer
1989 – Ace Hood, American rapper
Deaths
912 – Leo VI, Byzantine Emperor (b. 866)
1304 – Mahmud Ghazan, Mongol ruler (b. 1271)
1610 – Matteo Ricci, Italian Jesuit missionary (b. 1552)
1672 – Charles Seton, 2nd Earl of Dunfermline, English royalist (b. 1615)
1708 – Jules Hardouin Mansart, French architect (b. 1646)
1723 – Jean Galbert de Campistron, French dramatist (b. 1656)
1777 – George Pigot, Baron Pigot, British governor of Madras (b. 1719)
1778 – William Pitt, the Elder, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1708)
1812 – Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (assassinated) (b. 1762)
1848 – Tom Cribb, English boxer (b. 1781)
1849 – Jeanne Françoise Julie Adélaïde Récamier, French socialite (b. 1777)
1871 – John Herschel, British mathematician and astronomer (b. 1792)
1887 – Jean Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist (b. 1802)
1891 – A. E. Becquerel, French physicist (b. 1820)
1916 – Max Reger, German composer (b. 1873)
1916 – Karl Schwarzschild, German astronomer and physicist (b. 1873)
1920 – William Dean Howells, American writer (b. 1837)
1929 – Jozef Murgaš, Slovak inventor (b. 1864)
1934 – Orest Khvolson, Russian physicist (b. 1852)
1939 – Evgenii Miller, Russian counter-revolutionary (b. 1867)
1955 – Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer (b. 1874)
1960 – John D. Rockefeller, Jr., American philanthropist (b. 1874)
1963 – Herbert Spencer Gasser, American physiologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1888)
1970 – Johnny Hodges, American musician (b. 1906)
1973 – Lex Barker, American actor (b. 1919)
1976 – Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect (b. 1898)
1979 – Lester Flatt, American bluegrass musician (b. 1914)
1981 – Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1897)
1981 – Bob Marley, Jamaican singer and musician (b. 1945)
1985 – Chester Gould, American cartoonist (b. 1900)
1986 – Henry P. McIlhenny, American philanthropist (b. 1910)
1986 – Fritz Pollard, American football player (b. 1894)
1988 – Kim Philby, British spy (b. 1912)
1994 – Timothy Carey, American actor (b. 1928)
1996 – Ademir Marques de Menezes, Brazilian footballer (b. 1922)
1996 – Nnamdi Azikiwe, President of Nigeria (b. 1904)
2000 – Paula Wessely, Austrian actress (b. 1907)
2001 – Douglas Adams, English author (b. 1952)
2002 – Joseph Bonanno, Italian-born gangster (b. 1905)
2002 – Renaude Lapointe, French Canadian journalist and senator (b. 1912)
2003 – Noel Redding, English bassist (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) (b. 1945)
2004 – Mick Doyle, Irish rugby union footballer and coach
2004 – John Whitehead, American singer (McFadden & Whitehead) (b. 1949)
2005 – Michalis Genitsaris, Greek rebetiko singer and composer (b. 1917)
2006 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (b. 1935)
2006 – Frankie Thomas, American actor (b. 1921)
2006 – Yossi Banai, Israeli singer (b. 1932)
2007 – Malietoa Tanumafili II, Sovereign Ruler of Samoa (b. 1913)
2007 – Bernard Gordon, blacklisted American author (b. 1918)
2008 – Dottie Rambo, American gospel singer (b. 1934)
2008 – John Rutsey, Canadian drummer, formerly for Canadian progressive rock band Rush (b. 1953)
2008 – Bruno Neves, Portuguese cyclist (b. 1981)
Holidays and observances
Holiday of the City of Miskolc (since 1992).
Feast day of the following saints in the Eastern Orthodox Church:
Abgar V of Edessa
Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
Saint Anthimus of Rome
Saint Anthony de Sant Ana Galvão
Saint Mamertus, first of the Ice Saints
Saint Francis of Girolamo
Saint Gangulphus
Saint Majolus of Cluny
Saint Odilo of Cluny
YouTube responded with an error: The request cannot be completed because you have exceeded your <a href="/youtube/v3/getting-started#quota">quota</a>.