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.