Historical Events on May 11

  • 1846: U.S President asks Congress for a Declaration of War against Mexico. His request is approved on May 13th and starts the Mexican-American War.
  • 1857: Indian rebels seize the city of Delhi from British forces during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
  • 1858: Minnesota becomes the United States’ 32nd
  • 1862: The CSS Virginia is scuttled in the James River just north of Norfolk, Virginia.
  • 1910: Glacier National Park in the state of Montana is established by an act of the United States Congress.
  • 1927: On this day, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is officially established.
  • 1942: “Go Down, Moses”, a collection of short storied by William Faulkner is published.
  • 1943: In an attempt to drive out Imperial Japanese Forces in the Aleutian Islands, American forces invade Attu Island during World War 2.
  • 1944: A major offensive on the Gustav Line is made by the Allies against Axis forces.
  • 1945: Over 340 crew members are killed when the USS Bunker Hill is hit by 2 dive-bombing kamikaze planes off the coast of Okinawa. The damaged vessel was still able to return to the United States under its own power, however.
  • 1995: More than a hundred and seventy countries decide to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. And they do so indefinitely and without any conditions placed on the deal.
  • 1997: Garry Kasparov is defeated in a rematch between him and the chess-playing supercomputer known as Deep Blue.
  • 2011: A 5.1 magnitude earthquake hits Lorca, Spain.
  • 2016: An ISIL bombing in the city of Baghdad ends up killing more than 100 people.

Famous Birthdays on May 11

  • Belarusian-American composer, Irving Berlin is born in 1888.
  • British painter Paul Nash is born in 1889.
  • English actress Margaret Rutherford is born in 1892.
  • American painter Gladys Rockmore Davis is born in 1901.
  • Spanish painter and illustrator, Salvador Dali is born in 1904.
  • English-American actress Natasha Richardson is born in 1963.
  • American actor Jeffrey Donovan is born in 1968.
  • American actress and singer, Sabrina Carpenter is born in 1999.