Discover what happened on May 11 in history, along with notable events that shaped technology, sports, and the American landscape.
What Happened on May 11 in History?
Important events on this day include the debut of the Polaroid camera, IBM’s Deep Blue defeating chess champion Garry Kasparov, and one of the major dust storms of the Dust Bowl era.
MAY 11 – TODAY IN HISTORY:
1858 – Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U.S. state.
1910 – Glacier National Park in Montana was established.
1924 – Mercedes-Benz was formed when Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz merged two companies.
1927 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded.
1934 – A severe two-day dust storm stripped the topsoil from the Great Plains of the U.S. and created a “Dust Bowl.” The storm was one of many.
1947 – The creation of the tubeless tire was announced by the B.F. Goodrich Company.
1948 – The first Polaroid camera was sold in New York, NY for $89.99.
1960 – The first contraceptive pill was made available.
1972 – The San Francisco Giants announced the trade of Willie Mays to the New York Mets.
1976 – ABC broadcast the final episode of TV’s “Marcus Welby MD”.
1984 – The Detroit Tigers set a major league record by winning 26 of their first 30 games
1985 – More than 50 people died when a flash fire swept a soccer stadium in Bradford, England.
1987 – In Baltimore, MD, the first heart-lung transplant took place. The surgery was performed by Dr. Bruce Reitz of the Stanford University School of Medicine.
1990 – Ritchie Valens was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame posthumously.
1996 – On a single day, eight people died during summit attempts on Mount Everest.
1996 – An Atlanta-bound ValuJet DC-9 caught fire (started by improperly handled chemical oxygen generators in the cargo hold) shortly after takeoff from Miami and crashed into the Florida Everglades. All 110 people on board were killed.
1997 – Garry Kasparov, world chess champion, lost his first ever multi-game match. He lost to IBM’s chess computer Deep Blue. It was the first time a computer had beaten a world-champion player.
1998 – A French mint produced the first coins of Europe’s single currency. The coin is known as the euro.
2001 – U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced his decision to approve a 30-day delay of the execution of convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. McVeigh had been scheduled to be executed on May 16, 2001. The delay was because the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had failed to disclose thousands of documents to McVeigh’s defense team.
2005 – Macaulay Culkin took the stand in Michael Jackson’s defense and called claims that Jackson molested him “absolutely ridiculous.”
2005 – In Washington, DC, the White House and the Capitol were evacuated after a small plane entered restricted airspace. Two fighter jets escorted the Cessna, which was carrying a pilot and his student, to a nearby airport. Authorities did not press charges.
2015 – Fox announced that TV’s “American Idol” would conclude at the end of its fifteenth season.
2020 – The American Hockey League cancelled the remainder of their 2019-2020 hockey season and the 2020 Calder Cup Playoffs due to COVID-19. The Grand Rapids Griffins playing season ended.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS ON MAY 11:
Louis Farrakhan – 93 years old (1933) – Religious leader
James L. Dolan – 71 years old (1955) – Businessman
Tim Blake Nelson – 62 years old (1964) – Actor
Bobby Witt – 62 years old (1964) – Baseball player
Harold Ford Jr. – 56 years old (1970) – Lawyer and politician
JP Karliak – 45 years old (1981) – Actor, voice actor and comedian
Matt Leinart – 43 years old (1983) – Football player
Jeremy Maclin – 38 years old (1988) – Football player
Cam Newton – 37 years old (1989) – Football player
Maurice Harkless – 33 years old (1993) – American-Puerto Rican basketball player
Sachia Vickery – 31 years old (1995) – Tennis player
Coi Leray – 29 years old (1997) – Rapper and singer
Lana Condor – 29 years old (1997) – Actress
Sabrina Carpenter – 27 years old (1999) – Singer and actress
DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR MAY 11:
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For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.
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