11 May 2023 (MIA)
330 – Byzantium is renamed Nova Roma during a dedication ceremony, but it is more popularly referred to as Constantinople.
868 – A copy of the Diamond Sutra is printed in China, making it the oldest known dated printed book.
912 – Alexander becomes Emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
1310 – In France, fifty-four members of the Knights Templar are burned at the stake as heretics.
1502 – Christopher Columbus departs Cádiz on his fourth and final voyage to the Americas.
1647 – Peter Stuyvesant arrives in New Amsterdam to replace Willem Kieft as Director-General of New Netherland, the Dutch colonial settlement in present-day New York City.
1672 – Franco-Dutch War: Louis XIV of France invades the Netherlands.
1745 – War of the Austrian Succession: Battle of 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 to cross the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. Their route opens up inland Australia for continued expansion throughout the 19th century.
1820 – HMS Beagle, the ship that will take Charles Darwin on his scientific voyage, is launched.
1833 – The Aberdeen-built brig Lady of the Lake struck an iceberg and sank off the coast of Newfoundland with the loss of up to 265 passengers and crew.
1846 – President James K. Polk asked for and received a Declaration of War against Mexico, starting the Mexican–American War
1857 – Indian Rebellion of 1857: 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.
1880 – Seven people are killed in the Mussel Slough Tragedy, a gun battle in California.
1889 – An attack upon a U.S. Army paymaster and escort results in the theft of over $28,000 and the award of two Medals of Honor.
1891 – The Ōtsu incident: Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich of Imperial Russia (later Nicholas II) suffers a critical head injury during a sword attack by Japanese policeman Tsuda Sanzō. He is rescued by Prince George of Greece and Denmark.
1894 – Pullman Strike: Four thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a wildcat strike in Illinois.
1907 – Thirty-two Shriners are killed when their chartered train derails at a switch near Surf Depot in Lompoc, California.
1910 – An act of the U.S. Congress establishes Glacier National Park in Montana.
1918 – The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus is officially established.
1927 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded.
1929 – Academician Gane Todorovski, poet, translator, professor, essayist, literary critic, historian and publicist, was born in Skopje village Kozle. He was a member and president of the Macedonian Writers Association. Passed away on 22 May 2010.
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 begin a major offensive against the Axis Powers on the Gustav Line.
1945 – World War II: Off the coast of Okinawa, the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill is hit by two kamikazes, killing 346 of its crew. Although badly damaged, the ship is able to return to the U.S. under its own power.
1946 – The United Malays National Organisation is created.
1949 – Siam officially changes its name to Thailand for the second time. The name had been in use since 1939 but was reverted in 1945.
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 who is living under the alias of Ricardo Klement.
1963 – Racist bombings in Birmingham, Alabama disrupt nonviolence in the Birmingham campaign and precipitate a crisis involving federal troops.
1970 – The Lubbock tornado, a F5 tornado, hits Lubbock, Texas, killing 26 and causing $250 million in damage.
1972 – United States performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site, which was part of the series Operation Grommet and Operation Toggle.
1973 – Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg has charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times dismissed.
1984 – Eight people perish in a fire at Six Flags Great Adventure’s Haunted Castle.
1985 – Bradford City stadium fire: Fifty-six spectators die and more than 200 are injured in a flash fire at Valley Parade football ground during a match against Lincoln City in Bradford, England.
1987 – Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.
1987 – In Baltimore, the first heart–lung transplant takes place. The surgery is performed by Dr. Bruce Reitz of the Stanford University School of Medicine.
1995 – More than 170 countries extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions.
1996 – After the aircraft’s departure from Miami, a fire started by improperly handled chemical oxygen generators 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.
1996 – The 1996 Mount Everest disaster: on a single day eight people die during summit attempts on Mount Everest.
1997 – 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 atomic tests in Pokhran to include a thermonuclear device.
2000 – Second Chechen War: Chechen separatists ambush Russian paramilitary forces in the Republic of Ingushetia.
2002 – The Nebregovo Macedonian Language Foundation is established in Prilep. It aims at promoting the vast literary heritage of Macedonian writer Blazhe Koneski.
2010 – David Cameron becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following talks between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to form the UK’s first coalition government since World War II after elections produced a hung parliament.
2013 – Fifty-two people are killed in a bombing in Reyhanlı, Turkey.
2014 – Fifteen people are killed and 46 injured in Kinshasa in a stampede caused by tear gas being thrown into the stand by police officers attempting to defuse a hostile incident.
2019 – Carbon dioxide levels in the earth’s atmosphere hit levels not seen for 3 million years at 415 parts per million, according to the Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii.
2020 – Colombian airline Avianca, and world's 2nd oldest, becomes 1st major airline to file for bankruptcy due to COVID-19.

2020 – World Health Organization warns “extreme vigilance” needed as many countries stop protective measures against COVID-19.2022 – Costa Rica declares a state of emergency after a ransomware attack infiltrates and cripples several government agencies