Today in History
1998 India executes a series of nuclear weapons tests
The detonations sparked international outrage and raised fears of a nuclear war in the region. India declared itself a nuclear power on May 13, 1998.
1996 ValuJet flight 592 crashes into the Florida Everglades shortly after takeoff
All 110 people on board lost their lives in the crash that was caused by a fire in the cargo compartment.
1985 56 football fans die in a stadium fire
The wooden stands at Valley Parade football ground caught fire during a match against Lincoln City. The doors were shut. The most likely cause of the disaster was a burning cigarette thrown into a garbage can.
1981 The musical Cats is premiered
The piece sparked a musical craze around the world and catapulted the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber to stardom.
868 The earliest surviving dated printed book is produced in China
The “Diamond Sutra” is one of Mahayana Buddhism’s most important texts. The copy is currently housed in the British Library in London.
Births On This Day, May 11
1918 Richard Feynman
American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
1904 Salvador Dalí
Spanish painter
1888 Irving Berlin
American composer
1861 Frederick Russell Burnham
American soldier, adventurer
1838 Walter Goodman
English painter, illustrator, author
Deaths On This Day, May 11
2001 Douglas Adams
English/American author, playwright
1988 Kim Philby
British spy, Soviet double agent
1981 Bob Marley
Jamaican/American singer-songwriter, guitarist
1778 William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1760 Alaungpaya
Burmese king
