May 11

Pre-1600

 * 330 – Constantine the Great dedicates the much-expanded and rebuilt city of Byzantium, changing its name to New Rome and declaring it the new capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.
 * 868 – A copy of the Diamond Sūtra is published, making it the earliest dated and printed book known.
 * 973 – In the first coronation ceremony ever held for an English monarch, Edgar the Peaceful is crowned King of England, having ruled since 959 AD. His wife, Ælfthryth, is crowned queen, the first recorded coronation for a Queen of England.
 * 1068 – Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, is crowned Queen of England.
 * 1258 – Louis IX of France and James I of Aragon sign the Treaty of Corbeil, renouncing claims of feudal overlordship in one another's territories and separating the House of Barcelona from the politics of France.

1601–1900

 * 1713 – Great Northern War: After losing the Battle of Helsinki to the Russians, the Swedish and Finnish troops burn the entire city, so that it would not remain intact in the hands of the Russians.
 * 1812 – Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons.
 * 1813 – William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth discover a route across the Blue Mountains, opening up inland Australia to settlement.
 * 1857 – Indian Rebellion of 1857: Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British.
 * 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.
 * 1894 – Four thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a wildcat strike.

1901–present

 * 1919 – Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
 * 1970 – The 1970 Lubbock tornado kills 26 and causes $250 million in damage.
 * 1973 – Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg's charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times are dismissed.
 * 1973  – Aeroflot Flight 6551 crashes in Semey, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (now Kazakhstan), killing all 63 aboard.
 * 1985 – Fifty-six spectators die and more than 200 are injured in the Bradford City stadium fire.
 * 1987 – Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.
 * 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 Airlines Flight 592 causes the Douglas DC-9 to crash in the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 on board.
 * 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.
 * 2000 – Effective date of Canada's first modern-day treaty - The Nisga'a Final Agreement.
 * 2000  – Second Chechen War: Chechen separatists ambush Russian paramilitary forces in the Republic of Ingushetia.
 * 2009 – An American soldier in Iraq opened fire on a counseling center at Camp Liberty in Baghdad, leaving 5 other US soldiers dead and 3 soldiers wounded.
 * 2009  – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on the final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
 * 2010 – David Cameron takes office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats form the country's first coalition government since the Second World War.
 * 2011 – An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 hits Lorca, Spain.
 * 2013 – Fifty-two people are killed in a bombing in Reyhanlı, Turkey.
 * 2014 – Fifteen people are killed and 46 injured in Kinshasa, DRC, in a stampede caused by tear gas being thrown into soccer stands by police officers.
 * 2016 – One hundred and ten people are killed in an ISIL bombing in Baghdad.
 * 2022 – The Burmese military executes at least 37 villagers during the Mon Taing Pin massacre in Sagaing, Myanmar.
 * 2022  – Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is killed while covering a raid in Jenin. Israel eventually admitted and apologized for the murder, after initial denials.
 * 2024 – Start/Middle of the May 2024 Solar Storms, the most powerful set of Geomagnetic storms since the 2003 Halloween solar storms.
 * 2024 – The 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest is held in Malmö, Sweden. Nemo from Switzerland wins with their song "The Code", making them the contest's first non-binary winner.

Pre-1600

 * 1571 – Niwa Nagashige, Japanese daimyō (d. 1637)

1601–1900

 * 1715 – Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach, German organist (d. 1739)
 * 1752 – Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German physician, physiologist, and anthropologist (d. 1840)
 * 1797 – José Mariano Salas, Mexican general and politician (d. 1867)
 * 1811 – Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel, Swiss politician (d. 1893)
 * 1811  – Chang and Eng Bunker, Siamese-American showmen, the original conjoined twins (d. 1874)
 * 1852 – Charles W. Fairbanks, American journalist and politician, 26th United States Vice President (d. 1918)
 * 1854 – Jack Blackham, Australian cricketer (d. 1932)
 * 1869 – Archibald Warden, English tennis player (d. 1943)
 * 1871 – Frank Schlesinger, American astronomer and author (d. 1943)
 * 1875 – Harriet Quimby, American pilot and screenwriter (d. 1912)
 * 1881 – Al Cabrera, Spanish-Cuban baseball player and manager (d. 1964)
 * 1881  – Jan van Gilse, Dutch composer and conductor (d. 1944)
 * 1881  – Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, and engineer (d. 1963)
 * 1888 – Irving Berlin, Belarusian-American pianist and composer (d. 1989)
 * 1888  – Willis Augustus Lee, American admiral (d. 1945)
 * 1889 – Paul Nash, British painter (d. 1946)
 * 1890 – Willie Applegarth, English-American sprinter (d. 1958)
 * 1890  – Helge Løvland, Norwegian decathlete (d. 1984)
 * 1894 – Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1991)
 * 1895 – Jacques Brugnon, French tennis player (d. 1978)
 * 1895  – Jiddu Krishnamurti, Indian philosopher and speaker (d. 1986)
 * 1895  – William Grant Still, American composer and conductor (d. 1978)
 * 1896 – Josip Štolcer-Slavenski, Croatian composer and academic (d. 1955)
 * 1897 – Robert E. Gross, American businessman (d. 1961)

1901–present

 * 1901 – Rose Ausländer, poet and author (d. 1988)
 * 1901  – Gladys Rockmore Davis, American painter (d. 1967)
 * 1903 – Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player and manager (d. 1993)
 * 1904 – Salvador Dalí, Spanish artist (d. 1989)
 * 1905 – Lise de Baissac, Mauritian SOE agent, war hero (d. 2004)
 * 1905  – Catherine Bauer Wurster, American architect and public housing advocate (d. 1964)
 * 1907 – Rip Sewell, American baseball player and coach (d. 1989)
 * 1911 – Phil Silvers, American actor and comedian (d. 1985)
 * 1912 – Saadat Hasan Manto, Pakistani author and screenwriter (d. 1955)
 * 1916 – Camilo José Cela, Spanish author and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
 * 1918 – Richard Feynman, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1988)
 * 1924 – Antony Hewish, English astronomer and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2021)
 * 1925 – Edward J. King, American politician, 66th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 2006)
 * 1927 – Bernard Fox, British actor (d. 2016)
 * 1927  – Gene Savoy, American explorer, author, and scholar (d. 2007)
 * 1929 – Gerhard Klingenberg, Austrian actor (d. 2024)
 * 1930 – Edsger W. Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist and academic (d. 2002)
 * 1932 – Valentino Garavani, Italian fashion designer
 * 1933 – Louis Farrakhan, American religious leader
 * 1934 – Jim Jeffords, American lawyer and politician (d. 2014)
 * 1934  – Jack Twyman, American basketball player (d. 2012)
 * 1937 – Ildikó Újlaky-Rejtő, Hungarian Olympic and world champion foil fencer
 * 1941 – Eric Burdon, English musician
 * 1941  – Ian Redpath, Australian cricketer and coach
 * 1943 – Nancy Greene, Canadian skier and politician
 * 1947 – Butch Trucks, American drummer (d. 2017)
 * 1948 – Nirj Deva, British politician
 * 1948  –  Pam Ferris, Welsh actress
 * 1950 – Jeremy Paxman, English journalist and author
 * 1950  – Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Indian actor (d. 2014)
 * 1951 – Ed Stelmach, Canadian farmer and politician, 13th Premier of Alberta
 * 1954 – John Gregory, English footballer and manager
 * 1955 – James L. Dolan, American businessman
 * 1957 – Mike Nesbitt, Northern Irish journalist and politician
 * 1963 – Natasha Richardson, English actress (d. 2009)
 * 1964 – Tim Blake Nelson, American actor
 * 1964  – Bobby Witt, American baseball player
 * 1970 – Harold Ford Jr., American lawyer and politician
 * 1974 – Stanley Gene, Papua New Guinean rugby league player
 * 1975 – Francisco Cordero, Dominican baseball player
 * 1975 – Ziad Jarrah, Lebanese terrorist, September 11 attacks (d. 2001)
 * 1976 – Kardinal Offishall, Canadian rapper and record producer/executive
 * 1977 – Pablo Gabriel García, Uruguayan footballer
 * 1977  – Victor Matfield, South African rugby player, coach, and sportscaster
 * 1977  – Bobby Roode, Canadian professional wrestler
 * 1978 – Laetitia Casta, French model and actress
 * 1978 – Judy Ann Santos, Filipino actress
 * 1981 – Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
 * 1981 – JP Karliak, American actor, voice actor and comedian
 * 1982 – Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and singer (d. 2013)
 * 1983 – Matt Leinart, American football player
 * 1983  – Steven Sotloff, American-Israeli journalist (d. 2014)
 * 1983  – Holly Valance,  Australian actress, singer and model
 * 1984 – Andrés Iniesta, Spanish footballer
 * 1985 – Beau Ryan, Australian rugby league player and television host
 * 1986 – Abou Diaby, French footballer
 * 1986  – Miguel Veloso, Portuguese footballer
 * 1987 – Lim Seul-ong, South Korean singer and actor
 * 1988 – Jeremy Maclin, American football player
 * 1988  – Brad Marchand, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1989 – Giovani dos Santos, Mexican footballer
 * 1989  – Cam Newton, American football player
 * 1992 – Thibaut Courtois, Belgian footballer
 * 1992  – Pablo Sarabia, Spanish footballer
 * 1992  – Bobi, Portuguese Rafeiro do Alentejo, oldest recorded dog (d. 2023)
 * 1993 – Maurice Harkless, American-Puerto Rican basketball player
 * 1993  – Miguel Sanó, Dominican baseball player
 * 1994 – Hagos Gebrhiwet, Ethiopian runner
 * 1994  – Nene Macdonald, Papua New Guinean rugby league player
 * 1995 – Gelson Martins, Portuguese footballer
 * 1995  – Sachia Vickery, American tennis player
 * 1996 – Adin Hill, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1997 – Lana Condor, American actress
 * 1998 – Viktória Kužmová, Slovak tennis player
 * 1999 – Sabrina Carpenter, American singer and actress
 * 2000 – Yūki Tsunoda, Japanese racing driver

Pre-1600

 * 912 – Leo VI the Wise, Byzantine Emperor, the second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (b. 866)

1601–1900

 * 1610 – Matteo Ricci, Italian priest and mathematician (b. 1552)
 * 1778 – William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (b. 1708)
 * 1779 – John Hart, American lawyer and politician (b. 1711)
 * 1812 – Spencer Perceval, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1762)
 * 1848 – Tom Cribb, English boxer (b. 1781)
 * 1849 – Juliette Récamier, French businesswoman (b. 1777)
 * 1882 – Frederick Innes, Scottish-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1816)
 * 1889 – John Cadbury, English businessman and philanthropist, founded the Cadbury Company (b. 1801)

1901–present

 * 1908 – Charles Kingston, Australian politician, 20th Premier of South Australia (b. 1850)
 * 1916 – Karl Schwarzschild, German astronomer and physicist (b. 1873)
 * 1918 – George Elmslie, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Victoria (b. 1861)
 * 1920 – James Colosimo, Italian-American mob boss (b. 1878)
 * 1920  – William Dean Howells, American novelist, literary critic, and playwright (b. 1837)
 * 1927 – Juan Gris, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1887)
 * 1929 – Jozef Murgaš, Slovak-American priest, architect, botanist, and painter (b. 1864)
 * 1938 – George Lyon, Canadian golfer and cricketer (b. 1858)
 * 1946 – Seán McCaughey, Irish Republican, died on hunger strike (b. 1915)
 * 1955 – Gilbert Jessop, English cricketer (b. 1874)
 * 1960 – John D. Rockefeller Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1874)
 * 1963 – Herbert Spencer Gasser, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
 * 1967 – James E. Brewton, American painter (b. 1930)
 * 1979 – Lester Flatt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1914)
 * 1980 – Dyre Vaa, Norwegian sculptor and painter (b. 1903)
 * 1981 – Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
 * 1981  – Bob Marley, Jamaican singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1945)
 * 1983 – Zenna Henderson, American writer (b. 1917)
 * 1985 – Chester Gould, American cartoonist, created Dick Tracy (b. 1900)
 * 1986 – Fritz Pollard, American football player and coach (b. 1894)
 * 1988 – Kim Philby, British-Soviet double agent (b. 1912)
 * 1990 – Stratos Dionysiou, Greek Singer, composer and lyricist (b. 1935)
 * 1994 – Timothy Carey, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1928)
 * 2001 – Douglas Adams, English novelist and screenwriter (b. 1952)
 * 2002 – Renaude Lapointe, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1912)
 * 2002  – Bill Peet, American animator and screenwriter (b. 1915)
 * 2003 – Noel Redding, English bass player (b. 1945)
 * 2005 – Léo Cadieux, Canadian politician, 17th Canadian Minister of National Defence (b. 1908)
 * 2006 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer and actor (b. 1935)
 * 2007 – Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan ruler (b. 1913)
 * 2008 – John Rutsey, Canadian drummer (b. 1953)
 * 2009 – Abel Goumba, Central African physician and politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (b. 1926)
 * 2009  – Claudio Huepe, Chilean economist and politician, Chilean Minister Secretary-General of Government (b. 1939)
 * 2009  – Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda, Indian admiral (b. 1915)
 * 2010 – Doris Eaton Travis, American dancer and vaudevillian (b. 1904)
 * 2011 – Robert Traylor, American basketball player (b. 1977)
 * 2019 – Peggy Lipton, American actress, model, and singer (b. 1946)
 * 2019  – Thomas Silverstein, American murderer (b. 1952)
 * 2020 – Jerry Stiller, American comedian, actor (b. 1927)
 * 2021 – Colt Brennan, American quarterback (b. 1983)
 * 2021 – Norman Lloyd, American actor, producer and director (b. 1914)
 * 2024 – Susan Backlinie, American actress and stuntwoman (b. 1946)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * Anthimus of Rome
 * Gangulphus of Burgundy
 * Majolus of Cluny
 * Mamertus, the first of the Ice Saints