/year

May 11 in history

203 sourced entries recorded on May 11, from 330 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 330Emperor Constantine the Great dedicates the Column of Constantine and Constantinople, or Nova Roma (modern-day Istanbul). He had spent four years expanding the city of Byzantium, having chosen the site for its strategic location on the Bosporus. The city became the capital of the Byzantine Empire.source
  • 868The earliest extant printed book, an illustrated scroll of the Diamond Sutra ("Perfection of Wisdom"), unearthed at Dunhuang (Western China), is produced.source
  • 1023In the Kingdom of León in Spain, the Abbot Oliba declines to authorize the wedding of King Alfonso V to Urraca Garcés, the sister of King Sancho of Pamplona, describing it as incesti connubii. The wedding takes place anyway.source
  • 1068William I brings his wife Matilda of Flanders to England. She is crowned queen in Westminster Abbey.source
  • 1092Lincoln Cathedral, one of England's finest Gothic buildings, is consecrated.source
  • 1182Saladin leads an Egyptian expeditionary force from Cairo to Syria. In June, he arrives in Damascus and learns that his nephew Farrukh Shah has raided Galilee, and sacked the villages near Mount Tabor. On his way back, Farrukh Shah attacks the fortress of Habis Jaldak, carved out of the rock above the River Yarmuk. The garrison, Christian Syrians with no great wish to die for the Crusaders, promptly surrenders.source
  • 1189Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) sets out from Regensburg, at the head of a German expeditionary force (some 15,000 men, including 4,000 knights). He has ensured that his lands are safe while he is away on crusade and leaves his son Henry VI in charge of the country. After leaving Germany, Frederick's army is increased by a contingent of 2,000 men led by Prince Géza, younger brother of King Béla III of Hungary. On July 27, he arrives at Niš and is welcomed by Stefan Nemanja, Grand Prince of Serbia. In order to ease his passage, Frederick makes diplomatic contacts with Hungary, the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum.source
  • 12221222 Cyprus earthquake.source
  • 1258Treaty of Corbeil: King Louis IX of France ("the Saint") signs a peace treaty with King James I of Aragon ("the Conqueror"). Louis, heir of Charlemagne, formally renounces his feudal overlordship over Catalonia (independent de facto since 988), while James renounces his claims over Occitania.source
  • 1398The Treaty of Pavia is signed between the Republic of Florence and the Duchy of Milan to end the Mantuan War after 14 months.source
  • 1406Ming conquest of Đại Ngu: China's Emperor Chengzu sends two battalions to invade the Kingdom of Dai Ngu (now Vietnam) under the command of the Duke Zhu Neng.source
  • 1415From Valencia in Spain, the Antipope Benedict XIII issues a papal bull with eleven prohibitions against Jews, including a ban on teaching, reading or possessing the Talmud; prohibition of Jewish possession of Christian artifacts or Christian books; limiting each town to only one synagogue; barring Jews from serving specific jobs or making contracts; segregating Jews from Christians in all public places; and requiring all Jews to wear "a red and yellow sign" on their clothes. Jews who convert to the Roman Catholic faith become exempt from the restrictionssource
  • 1427May 11 (16 Pashons, 1143 AM) – At Alexandria, Farag El-Maksi is elected as the new Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Christians and takes the regnal name of Pope John XI.source
  • 1484The Kingdom of Hungary defeats the army of the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Leitzersdorf.source
  • 1560In the Battle of Djerba, the Ottoman fleet, commanded by Piali Pasha, overwhelms a large joint European (mainly Spanish) fleet, sinking about half its ships.source
  • 1583In modern-day Russia, on the Caspian Sea, the three-day "Battle of Torches" ends as Ottoman Empire troops defeat forces of the Persian Empire.source
  • 1589The Earl of Bothwell, accused of treason against the Crown of Scotland, surrenders along with the Earl of Huntly and is imprisoned at Holyrood Palace. Convicted on May 24, the conspirators are never sentenced and set free by King James VI.source
  • 1611The first known performance of William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, probably new this year, is given at the Globe Theatre in London.source
  • 1624the title of Baron Brereton, of Leighlin in the County of Carlow, is created in the Peerage of Ireland in favour of Sir William Brereton.source
  • 1624a major earthquake in Fez, Morocco, estimated magnitude 6.0 Mw, causes severe damage and thousands of casualties.source
  • 1633Siege of Rheinberg commences.source
  • 1640May 11/12 – Following the Short Parliament's dissolution, an angry and armed mob makes an attack on Lambeth Palace in London in the hope of killing the unpopular Archbishop William Laud.source
  • 1641The Long Parliament in England passes the "Act against Dissolving Parliament without its own Consent".source
  • 1656John of Austria the Younger enters Brussels as Governor General.source
  • 1661The Indian city and territory of Bombay is ceded by Portugal to England in accordance with the dowry of King Joao IV of Portugal for the marriage of his daughter Catherine to King Charles II of England.source
  • 1678French admiral Jean d'Estrees runs his whole fleet aground in either the Las Aves Archipelago or Isla de Aves, intending to reach Curaçao.source
  • 1682The Moscow uprising of 1682 occurs when a mob, outraged by the rejection of Prince Ivan and upset over rumors that Ivan has been strangled, invades the Kremlin and lynches the leading boyars and military commanders. Ivan V and Peter I are named co-rulers of Russia as a result of a compromise between Peter's mother Natalya Naryshkina and Ivan's mother Maria Miloslavskaya and both are crowned a month later.source
  • 1689William and Mary accept the Scottish throne a month after the Scottish Parliament votes to depose King James VIIsource
  • 1689The Battle of Bantry Bay begins during the Williamite War in Ireland as the French fleet under the Marquis de Châteaurenault is able to protect its transports, unloading supplies for James II, from the English Royal Navy under the Earl of Torrington, and withdraws unpursued.source
  • 1744Russia's treasury begins an effort to reduce the number of copper five-kopeck pieces (20 of which equal a Russian ruble) by declaring that it will buy them back at a ruble for every 20 until August 1, after which kopecks would be redeemed at a ruble for every 25; then at the rate of 33 for a ruble on October 1, and 50 for a ruble on and after August 28, 1746.source
  • 1745War of the Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy – French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army, including the British 42nd Regiment of Foot, also known as Black Watch.source
  • 1745War of the Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy – French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army including the Black Watch.source
  • 1745War of the Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy in the Low Countries: Although this is a decisive French victory, the 43rd Highland Regiment of Foot (the 'Black Watch') distinguishes itself in its first battle.source
  • 1751The Pennsylvania Hospital, first hospital in the American colonies, is chartered in Philadelphia by the Pennsylvania legislature, which grants the right to Benjamin Franklin and to Dr. Thomas Bond.source
  • 1771War of the Regulation: North Carolina Governor William Tryon marches his military out of Hillsborough, to come to the aid of General Hugh Waddell's beleaguered forces. Tryon's army stops at Alamance Creek, 5 mi away from the Regulator army.source
  • 1792Robert Gray's Columbia River expedition: Captain Robert Gray, on the Columbia Rediviva, becomes the first white man to discover the mouth of the Columbia River.source
  • 1792Robert Gray's Columbia River expedition: Captain Robert Gray becomes the first explorer to enter the Columbia River.source
  • 1800The Betsey, Captain John Myers, leaves Port Jackson for Peru. En route she visits Hauraki for three days to collect timber. On board are two pākehā women, the first to visit the North Island.source
  • 1809May 10–11 – Peninsular War – Battle of Grijó: the Anglo-Portuguese Army, commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley, defeats the French army, commanded by Marshal Soult, in Portugal.source
  • 1812Assassination of Spencer Perceval, the British Prime Minister, by John Bellingham, in the lobby of the British House of Commons in London.source
  • 1812Bankrupt banker John Bellingham assassinates Prime Minister Spencer Perceval in the lobby of the House of Commons.source
  • 18131813 crossing of the Blue Mountains: Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Wentworth leave on an expedition to cross the Blue Mountains of Australia.source
  • 1818Charles XIV of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Sweden.source
  • 1818The Old Vic Theatre is founded (as the Royal Coburg Hall) in London.source
  • 1818The Westmorland Gazette is first published at Kendal in the Lake District of England; in July, Thomas De Quincey will begin a 16-month term as editor.source
  • 1820HMS Beagle, the ship that will later take young Charles Darwin on his scientific voyage to examine the "origin of the species", is launched at Woolwich Dockyard.source
  • 1820Launch of HMS Beagle, the ship that will take the young Charles Darwin on his scientific voyage, at Woolwich Dockyard.source
  • 1832Greece is recognized as a sovereign nation; the Treaty of Constantinople ends the Greek War of Independence in July.source
  • 1833French-American farmhand Antoine le Blanc murders family of three.source
  • 1835Matua, High Priest (taura tupua) of the Polynesian island of Mangareva, is baptized into the Roman Catholic Church.source
  • 1839May 7–11 – The Bedchamber Crisis in the United Kingdom: Following the announcement by Prime Minister Lord Melbourne that he intends to resign, Robert Peel asks (for political reasons) that Queen Victoria dismiss some of her personal attendants, Ladies of the Bedchamber, as a condition for his forming a government. Victoria refuses to accept the condition and Melbourne is persuaded to stay on as Prime Minister.source
  • 1842The Income Tax Act establishes the first peacetime income tax in the United Kingdom; 7 pence in the pound, for incomes over 150 pounds.source
  • 1842Income Tax Act 1842 establishes the first peacetime income tax in Britain; 7 pence on the pound, for incomes over 150 pounds.source
  • 1844Major fire at Lyme Regis.source
  • 1846The University at Buffalo is founded by future United States Vice President and President, Millard Fillmore.source
  • 1854May 5–15 – Hokkien–Teochew Riots in Singapore.source
  • 1857Indian Rebellion of 1857: Indian combatants capture Delhi from the British East India Company.source
  • 1858Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd U.S. state.source
  • 1858Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd U.S. state (see History of Minnesota).source
  • 1864Battle of Yellow Tavern – Confederate General J. E. B. Stuart is mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern, Virginia.source
  • 1866London bank Overend, Gurney and Company collapses precipitating a financial crisis.source
  • 1867Treaty of London: The great powers of Europe reaffirm the neutrality of Luxembourg, ending the Luxembourg Crisis. The Duchy of Limburg is formally re-incorporated into the Kingdom of the Netherlands.source
  • 1867Cox and Box, by Francis Burnand and Arthur Sullivan, is first publicly performed, at the Adelphi Theatre, London.source
  • 1868May 10–14 – Boshin War – Battle of Utsunomiya Castle, Japan: Forces of the Emperor Meiji resist the retreating troops of the Tokugawa shogunate.source
  • 1871The first trial in the Tichborne case begins, in the London Court of Common Pleas.source
  • 1876May 11/12 – Berlin Memorandum: Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary propose an armistice between Turkey and its insurgents.source
  • 1877May 8–11 – At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is held.source
  • 1878Hödel assassination attempt by anarchist Max Hödel targeting the German Kaiser, Wilhelm I.source
  • 1880Mussel Slough Tragedy: A land dispute between the Southern Pacific Railroad and settlers in Hanford, California, turns deadly when a gun battle breaks out, leaving 7 dead.source
  • 1883William Morris registers his Strawberry Thief printed textile design.source
  • 1884Establishment of the Museu Nacional de Belas-Artes e Arqueologia.source
  • 1885May 9–12 – North-West Rebellion: Battle of Batoche – Canadian government forces inflict a decisive defeat on Métis rebels, bringing an end to their part in the rebellion.source
  • 1886the International Exhibition of Navigation, Commerce and Industry in Liverpool is opened by Queen Victoria.source
  • 1887Ship Darling Downs with 7725 bales of Australian wool sinks at Nore after collision with Britanniasource
  • 1889Wham Paymaster robbery: An attack upon a U.S. Army paymaster and escort in the Arizona Territory results in the theft of over $28,000, and the award of two Medals of Honor.source
  • 1891Ōtsu incident: Tsesarevich Nikolay Alexandrovich (the future Czar Nicholas II) of Russia survives an assassination attempt while visiting Japan.source
  • 1894Pullman Strike: Three thousand Pullman Palace Car Company factory workers go on a "wildcat" (without union approval) strike in Illinois.source
  • 1894Pullman Strike: Three thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a "wildcat" (without union approval) strike to protest lowered wages without an equivalent reduction in expenses charged in the company town of Pullman, Chicago.source
  • 1896Edmund Flynn becomes Premier of Quebec, replacing Sir Louis-Olivier Taillon.source
  • 1897A patent is awarded for the invention of the first automotive muffler, with the granting by the U.S. Patent Office of application number 582,485 to Milton Reeves and his brother Marshall T. Reeves, of the Reeves Pulley Company of Columbus, Indiana.source
  • 1897May 10 – 19 zinc miners die of carbon monoxide poisoning at Snaefell Mine on the Isle of Man.source
  • 1899Pope Leo XIII declares that 1900 will be a jubilee year.source
  • 1899The country adopts PHT as its standard time at exactly 12:00 a.m., prior to the adoption, each location in the country observed its own solar mean time.source
  • 1905Albert Einstein submits for publication his paper "Über die von der molekularkinetischen Theorie der Wärme geforderte Bewegung von in ruhenden Flüssigkeiten suspendierten Teilchen" ("On the Motion of Small Particles Suspended in a Stationary Liquid, as Required by the Molecular Kinetic Theory of Heat"), based on his doctoral research, delineating a stochastic model of Brownian motion.source
  • 1907Hinode Life Insurance, later Sumitomo Life Insurance was founded.source
  • 1912Alaska becomes a territory of the United States.source
  • 1913May 11–12 – The Italian driver Felice Nazzaro wins the 1913 Targa Florio endurance automobile race on Sicily.source
  • 1913Wilhelm Münter Rolfsen, lawyer.source
  • 1917Andreas Bloch, caricaturist (born 1860)source
  • 1917May 8–12 – 1917 Far Eastern Games held in Tokyo.source
  • 1919Portuguese legislative election, 1919.source
  • 1920Mataura railway station is destroyed by fire. A replacement railway station building opens the following year.source
  • 1924Mercedes-Benz is formed by the merging of companies owned by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz.source
  • 1926May 11–14 – Roald Amundsen makes the first airship flight over the North Pole. The Norge leaves Spitsbergen and arrives in Teller, Alaska three days later.source
  • 1927The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which will create the Academy Awards, is founded in the United States.source
  • 1929The first Balkan Cup is initiated with Romania a founding competitor.source
  • 1931The Creditanstalt, Austria's largest bank, goes bankrupt, beginning the banking collapse in Central Europe that causes a worldwide financial meltdown.source
  • 1932Siam took itself off the gold standard.source
  • 1935Rugby league: St. George beats Canterbury 91 points to 6 for the highest score and biggest win in NRL history.source
  • 1946United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) was founded at Istana Besar, Johor Bahru, Johor. Dato Onn Jaafar became the first president.source
  • 1947The Kingdom of Laos is officially formed, but is still a French protectorate.source
  • 1947The Ferrari 125 S, the first car to bear the Ferrari name, debuts.source
  • 1950The Kefauver Committee hearings into U.S. organized crime begin.source
  • 1953The Governments of Singapore and British Malaya appointed a joint committee, headed by Commissioner-General Malcolm MacDonald, to make recommendations for unification.source
  • 1953Waco tornado outbreak: An F5 tornado hits in the downtown section of Waco, Texas, killing 114.source
  • 1954U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles declares that Indochina is important but not essential to the security of Southeast Asia, thus ending any prospect of American intervention on the side of France.source
  • 1957Laos withdraws from the French Union.source
  • 1960In Buenos Aires, four Mossad agents abduct fugitive Nazi German war criminal Adolf Eichmann in order that he can be taken to Israel and put on trial. This is announced on May 23 by Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion.source
  • 1969Tuguegarao, Cagayan experiences a heatwave with a recorded temperature of 42.2 °C.source
  • 1970Lubbock tornado: A strong, multi-vortex F5 tornado impacts areas of Lubbock, Texas, after dark, resulting in 26 fatalities and over 1,500 injuries.source
  • 1973The Data Act (Sw. Datalagen) − the world's first national data protection law − is enacted in Sweden.source
  • 1974A violent 7.1 earthquake shakes the Chinese city of Zhaotong causing between 1,600 and 20,000 deaths.source
  • 1976An accident involving a tanker truck carrying anhydrous ammonia takes place in Houston, Texas, resulting in the deaths of 7 people.source
  • 1977The Tugu Negara (National Monument) was finally repaired and restored to its original state.source
  • 1983Aberdeen F.C. beat Real Madrid 2–1 to win the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983, becoming only the third Scottish side to win a European trophy.source
  • 1984A transit of Earth from Mars takes place.source
  • 1985The FBI brings charges against the suspected heads of the five Mafia families in New York City.source
  • 1985Bradford City stadium fire: A fire engulfs a wooden stand at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, England, during an Association football match, killing 56 people.source
  • 1987Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.source
  • 1993United Nations Security Council Resolution 825 resolved that the inspector from the IAEA should go to North Korea.source
  • 1993A Taiwanese businessman is abducted by an unidentified, newly-formed kidnap-for-ransom gang in Metro Manila. He is brought to Laguna and is released on May 17 after a ransom is paid in Hong Kong. Police later believes that the gang has international links and flees Manila thereafter.source
  • 1995More than 170 countries agree to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions.source
  • 1996After takeoff from Miami, 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 people on board.source
  • 1997Burkinabe parliamentary election, 1997source
  • 1997IBM's Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, the first time a computer beats a chess World champion in a match.source
  • 1998The first euro coins are minted in Pessac, France. Because the final specifications for the coins are not finished, they will have to be melted and minted again in 1999.source
  • 1998Pokhran-II (Operation Shakti): India conducts three underground nuclear tests in Pokhran, including one thermonuclear device.source
  • 1999The 22nd Peacekeeping Battalion is founded.source
  • 2000India's population reaches 1 billion.source
  • 2003Lithuania approves joining the European Union in a referendum.source
  • 20032003 Sri Lanka cyclone: A cyclone makes landfall in Sri Lanka, killing 260 people and causing the country's worst natural disaster in 50 years.source
  • 2007May 10–12 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 takes place in Helsinki, Finland, and is won by Serbian entrant Marija Šerifović with the song "Molitva".source
  • 2009May 11–15 – Pope Benedict XVI visits the Palestinian territories and Israel. During his visit, the pope condemned Holocaust denials and called for cooperation between the Palestinians and Israelis.source
  • 2009May 11–24 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope on May 11, landing at Edwards Air Force Base May 24.source
  • 2011A 5.1 earthquake strikes southern Spain, killing 9 people and injuring over 400.source
  • 2011May 10–14 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 takes place in Düsseldorf, Germany, and is won by Azeri entrants Ell & Nikki with the song "Running Scared".source
  • 2012May 9–13 - The first international bicycle tour was organized in memory of Heydar Aliyev.source
  • 2015May 11–12 – Version O of Les Femmes d'Alger by Pablo Picasso sells for US$179.3 million at Christie's auction in New York, while the sculpture L'Homme au doigt by Alberto Giacometti sells for US$141.3 million, setting a new world record for a painting and for a sculpture, respectively.source
  • 2016May 10–14 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is held in Stockholm, Sweden, and is won by Ukrainian entrant Jamala with the song "1944".source
  • 2017May 9–13 – The Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Kyiv, Ukraine, and is won by Portuguese entrant Salvador Sobral with the song "Amar Pelos Dois".source
  • 2018May 8–12 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 is held in Lisbon, Portugal, and is won by Israeli entrant Netta Barzilai with the song "Toy".source
  • 2020The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology publishes the result of radiocarbon and DNA analysis from the fossils that has been found in the Bacho Kiro cave, Bulgaria. The result, showing that the fossils belong to Homo sapiens instead of Neanderthal, indicates that modern humans may have arrived in Europe thousands of years earlier than previously thought.source
  • 20212021 Israel–Palestine crisis: Israel hits the Gaza Strip with airstrikes as Hamas increases rocket fire. This follows tensions over the possible eviction of several Palestinians due to a long-standing property dispute in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.source
  • 2022May 10–May 14 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 is held in Turin, Italy. The contest is won by Ukrainian folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra with their song "Stefania".source
  • 2023The World Health Organization ends its declaration of mpox being a global health emergency.source
  • 2023May 9–13 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is held in Liverpool, UK. Swedish contestant Loreen wins with the song "Tattoo".source
  • 2024May 7–11 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is held in Malmö, Sweden. Swiss contestant Nemo wins with the song "The Code".source
  • 20252025 Albanian parliamentary election: The incumbent Socialist Party led by Edi Rama wins reelection, retaining a majority government.source
  • 2025Lassy Mbouity, the leader of the opposition Les Socialistes Congolais party, is abducted in Brazzaville.source

Births

  • 1014Anawrahta, founder of the Pagan Empire (Burma) (died 1077)source
  • 1366Anne of Bohemia, queen of Richard II of England (died 1394)source
  • 1414Francis I of Brittany (died 1450)source
  • 1414Francis I, Duke of Brittany (died 1450)source
  • 1568Christian I, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg, German prince of the House of Ascania (died 1630)source
  • 1661Niels Knagenhielm, civil servant, land owner and non-fiction writer (died 1737).source
  • 1722Petrus Camper, Dutch scientist (died 1789)source
  • 1752Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German anthropologist (died 1840)source
  • 1771Laskarina Bouboulina, Greek independence heroine (died 1825)source
  • 1811Chang and Eng Bunker, Siamese twins and sideshow performers (died 1874)source
  • 1861Frederick Russell Burnham, American scouter (died 1947)source
  • 1888Irving Berlin, American composer (died 1989)source
  • 1895Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher, speaker and writer (died 1986)source
  • 1904Salvador Dalí, Spanish artist (died 1989)source
  • 1904Salvador Dalí, artist (died 1989)source
  • 1918Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1988)source
  • 1948Nirj Deva, Sri Lankan-British politiciansource

Deaths

  • 912Leo VI, emperor of the Byzantine Empire (born 866)source
  • 912Emperor Leo VI (the Wise) dies after a 26-year reign, in which he has completed the Byzantine code of laws (Basilika). He is succeeded by his brother Alexander III as emperor (basileus) alongside Leo's 6-year-old son Constantine VII. Alexander becomes de facto ruler of the Byzantine Empire and expels Empress Zoe Karbonopsina, the mother of Constantine, from the palace and exiles her to a nunnery.source
  • 976Henry I (the Bald), German noblemansource
  • 994Majolus of Cluny, Frankish priest and abbotsource
  • 1033Ebles I, French nobleman and archbishopsource
  • 1138William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, Anglo-Norman noblemansource
  • 1276Zaynaddin Ibn al-Ajami, Ayyubid scholar (born 1195)source
  • 1291Thomas Ingoldsthorpe, English archdeacon and bishopsource
  • 1304Ghazan Khan, Mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate (born 1271)source
  • 1304Mahmud Ghazan, Mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate in the Middle East, dies and is succeeded by his brother Öljaitü Qaghan.source
  • 1313Robert Winchelsey, English archbishop and theologian (born 1245)source
  • 1572Moses Isserles, Polish Jewish rabbi and Talmudist (born 1530)source
  • 1610Matteo Ricci, Italian Jesuit priest and servant of God (born 1552)source
  • 1685The Killing Time: Five Covenanters in Wigtown, Scotland, notably Margaret Wilson, are executed for refusing to swear an oath declaring King James of England, Scotland and Ireland as head of the church, becoming the Wigtown martyrs.source
  • 1686Otto von Guericke, German physicist and inventor of the Magdeburg Hemispheres (born 1602)source
  • 1696Jean de La Bruyère, French writer and philosopher (born 1645)source
  • 1708Jules Hardouin-Mansart, French Baroque architect (born 1646)source
  • 1731Mary Astell, English feminist writer (born 1666)source
  • 1749Catharine Trotter Cockburn, English novelist, dramatist, and philosopher (born 1674)source
  • 1760King Alaungpaya of Burma dies during a retreat from Ayutthaya after stopping at the village of Kinywa while en route to Martaban. His son Naungdawgyi becomes the new King of Burma.source
  • 1763Natalia Lopukhina, Russian noble, court official and alleged political conspirator. (born 1699)source
  • 1777George Pigot, 1st Baron Pigot, British governor of Madras (born 1719)source
  • 1778William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Prime Minister of Great Britain (born 1708)source
  • 1812Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (assassinated) (born 1762)source
  • 1833At least 170 people—and perhaps as many as 265—are killed when the British brig Lady of the Lake sinks off Cape St. Francis at Newfoundland. Only 15 people survive.source
  • 1839William Farquhar, First British Resident and Commandant of colonial Singapore (born 1774)source
  • 1857Eugène François Vidocq, French criminal, private detective (born 1775)source
  • 1868John Crawfurd, Scottish physician, colonial administrator, diplomat and author, last British Resident of Singapore (born 1783)source
  • 1871John Herschel, English astronomer (born 1792)source
  • 1901Muhammad Baqir Sharif Tabatabae, Iranian Islamic scholar.source
  • 1916May 3–12 - 15 Irish rebel leaders who took part in the Easter Rising in Dublin in April are executed. Among them were Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, Thomas Clarke and William Pearse, brother of Patrick Pearse who had served as a captain rather than a leader.source
  • 1955Japanese National Railways' ferry Shiun Maru sinks after a collision with sister ship Uko Maru, in thick fog off Takamatsu, Shikoku, in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan; 166 passengers (many children) and 2 crew members are killed. This event is influential in plans to construct the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge (built 1986–98).source
  • 1981The Jamaican reggae singer Bob Marley dies at age 36 from cancer.source
  • 1981Bob Marley, 36, Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist, he was a longtime member of the Rastafari movement, whose culture was a key element in the development of reggae, he became an ardent proponent of Rastafari, taking its music out of the socially-deprived areas of Jamaica and onto the international music scene, he was a pan-Africanist and believed in the unity of African people worldwide, many of his songs had anti-imperialist and pan-Africanist themes, death due to acral lentiginous melanoma, the most common melanoma in people with dark skin, by the time of his death, the cancer had also spread to his lungs and brain.source
  • 1988Kim Philby, 76, British intelligence officer and spy (Cambridge Five), heart failure.source
  • 2001Douglas Adams, 49, British author (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Doctor Who), heart attack.source
  • 2022The Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is killed by the Israel Defence Forces while covering a raid in Jenin. Initially, Israel denied responsibility but later admitted to the killing and issued an apology.source