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“Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives. I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we've lived.”
~ Star Trek: Generations (Jean-Luc Picard, portrayed by Patrick Stewart).
Wikiquote (Patrick Stewart (OBE (born July 13, 1940) an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career on stage and screen. He is most widely known for his roles as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and its successor films, and as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men film series.)
May 11th, 330
Byzantine Empire (East Roman Empire):
330 - Byzantium is renamed Nova Roma ("New Rome") during a dedication ceremony, but it is more popularly referred to as Constantinople.
912 - Alexander becomes Emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
Wikipedia Image: The Baptism of Constantine painted by Raphael's pupils (1520–1524, fresco, Vatican City, Apostolic Palace); Mural of Saints Cyril and Methodius, 19th century, Troyan Monastery, Bulgaria; Justinian I depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna; The Greek fire was first used by the Byzantine Navy during the Byzantine-Arab Wars (from the Madrid Skylitzes, Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid); Alexios I, founder of the Komnenos dynasty.
Photo: Byzantine Empire is the great church of Hagia Sophia (Church of the Holy Wisdom) in Constantinople (562).
May 11th, 868
China:
868 - A copy of the Diamond Sutra is printed in China, making it oldest known dated printed book.
Wikipedia Photo: China from NASA Wordwind Satellite; © Great Wall of China, credit National Geographic; LongJi Terrace, credit National Geographic; Great Bear Rainforest, credit Paul Nicklen, National Geographic; Platoons of clay soldiers were buried with China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang Di, (required a labor force of 700,000 to build), credit O. Louis Mazzatenta, National Geographic.
May 11th, 1310
In France, fifty-four members of the Knights Templar, are burned at the stake as heretics.
Wikipedia Image: Philip the Fair portrait; Templar Knights being Burned at the Stake in France.; Philip IV of France – effigy at St. Denis.
May 11th, 1502
Christopher Columbus leaves for his fourth and final voyage to the West Indies.
Wikipedia Paintings: Christopher Columbus' fleet of three ships sets sail from Spain in 1492. credit Kean Collection / Hulton Archive / Getty Images; Christopher Columbus pointing to land in the New World; Romantic Painting of Christopher Columbus arriving to the Americas Primer desembarco de Cristóbal Colón en América, by Dióscoro Puebla 1862.
May 11th, 1647
Third Anglo-Dutch War:
1647 - England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, and it is renamed New York.
Wikipedia Painting: New Amsterdam; New Orange, 1674 (looking approximately north; the canal in the centre of the image (today's Broad St.) runs roughly north-south) ● New Amsterdam harbor
Photo: ● Statue of Liberty; Manhattan, New York City, credit National Geographics
● The Manhattan Bridge (completed 1909), spanning the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan Island, New York City, credit: Larry Brownstein / Getty Images
● Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, flanked by the apartment buildings of the Upper East Side, credit: © Bruce Stoddard—FPG International
● New York city, Manhattan through a fish eye view, credit Victor Barajas Photography.
May 11th, 1813
In Australia, William Lawson (explorer), Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth lead an expedition westwards from Sydney. (Their route opens up inland Australia for continued expansion throughout the 19th century.)
Wikipedia Image: Austrlian satellite; Whole Earth, satellite image, credit Science Photo Library.
May 11th, 1820
The HMS Beagle, the ship that will take Charles Darwin on his scientific voyage, is launched.
Wikipedia Image: Charles Darwin, while still a young man joined the scientific elite; Evolutionary tree in mid-July 1837 Darwin started his "B" notebook on Transmutation of Species, and on page 36 wrote "I think" above his first evolutionary tree; The hominoids are descendants of a common ancestor.
May 11th, 1846
Mexican-American War: United States President James K. Polk asked for and received a Declaration of War against Mexico starting the Mexican-American War.
Wikipedia Painting: Battle of Cerro Gordo during Mexican-American War, credit National Parks System; Winfield Scott marching into Mexico City, by William Ellis.
May 11th, 1857
Indian Revolution:
1857 - Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British.
Wikipedia Image: Map Satellite India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet AR, Bangladesh.
May 11th, 1858
Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd U.S. State.
Wikipedia Photo: Minnesota Minneapolis Reflection at night ● Pose Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness ● Palisade Head on Lake Superior formed from a Precambrian rhyolitic lava flow ● Tilted beds of the Middle Precambrian Thompson Formation in Jay Cooke State Park ● A groundhog seen in Minneapolis, along the banks of the Mississippi River.
May 11th, 1862
American Civil War:
1862 - The ironclad CSS Virginia is scuttled in the James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.
Wikipedia Image: ● Lincoln Memorial; an American national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln - located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. across from the Washington Monument.
● The northern army led by George McClellan and the southern army led by Robert E. Lee met at Antietam Creek, Maryland in September, 1862. It was a bloody battle where 13,000 Confederates and 12,000 Union troops died in just one day. McClellan had hesitated to attack before the battle thus letting the southern troops regroup. Also, he had saved reserves and refused to use them at the end of the battle thinking that Lee was holding reserves for a counterattack, even though those reserves didn't exist. The Union victory stopped Lee's northward advance and was a turning point in the war.
● Battle of Antietam / Stone Bridge at Antietam Battlefield - Sharpsburg, Maryland
● First Battle Between Ironclads: CSS Virginia/Merrimac (left) vs. USS Monitor, in 1862 at the Battle of Hampton Roads.
● Although photography was still in its infancy, war correspondents produced thousands of images, bringing the harsh realities of the frontlines to those on the home front in a new and visceral way. The Atlantic.
May 11th, 1867
Luxembourg gains its independence.
Wikipedia Photo: Luxembourg; Charles IV, the 14th century Holy Roman Emperor and king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg ● Castle amongst forested slopes in Luxembourg Ardennes ● Luxembourg ● Luxembourg Palace and Gardens ● Luxembourg Old Town.
May 11th, 1880
Mussel Slough Tragedy: Seven people are killed in a gun battle in California.
Wikipedia Image: Mussel Slough Tragedy;The "Mussel Slough Five", convicted in the wake of the tragedy. L-to-R: John D. Pursell, John J. Doyle, James N. Patterson, Wayman L. Pryor, and William Braden ● "The Retribution Comet" — Editorial cartoon published in The Wasp, July 8, 1881, depicting a comet with a skull about to strike railroad tycoons Leland Stanford and Collis Potter Huntington, shown robbing the graves of the Mussel Slough victims.
May 11th, 1894
Pullman Strike: Four thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a wildcat strike in Illinois.
Wikipedia Image: Striking American Railway Union members confront Illinois National Guard troops in Chicago during the Pullman Strike ● George M. Pullman ● President Cleveland sends troops to break up Pullman strike Infantry company beside pullman car, credit Corbis - Bettmann ● Pullman Strike of 1894, credit Encyclopedia.com
May 11th, 1910
An act of the United States Congress establishes Glacier National Park in Montana.
Wikipedia Photo: © Mountain Goat Glacier National Park, Montana ● Montana Mountains Barn, by Christine Paniecosi ● Beartooth Mountains - Montana; Mountains of Montana, by Evan Millitello ● Montana Rocky Mountains; Northwest Rocky Mountains, Montana ● Glacier national park montana mountains; credit National Geographic, Rocky Mountain Magazine.
May 11th, 1924
Mercedes-Benz is formed by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz merging their two companies.
Wikipedia Photo: Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz, credit Daimler.com
Image: 1885 Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler's motorcycle ● 2012 Mercedes-Benz Twin-Turbo 5.5L V8
May 11th, 1927
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded.
Wikipedia Photo: On January 11th, 1927, Louis B. Mayer, head of film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), announces the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, at a banquet in Los Angeles, California.
Goldwyn's Leo the Lion logo, has become perhaps the most famous movie studio logo in the world;
An Academy Award is an award bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors and writers.
May 11th, 1943
World War II:
1943 - American troops invade Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands in an attempt to expel occupying Japanese troops.
1944 - Allies begin a major offensive against the Axis Powers on the Gustav Line.
1945 - 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.
Post World War II:
1946 - UMNO 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.
Wikipedia Photo: Bombing of Dresden in World War II; August Schreitmüller's sculpture 'Goodness' surveys Dresden after a firestorm started by Allied bombers in 1945.
USS Bunker Hill was hit by kamikazes piloted by Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa and another airman on 11 May 1945. 389 personnel were killed or missing from a crew of 2,600; Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa, who flew his aircraft into the USS Bunker Hill during a Kamikaze mission on 11 May 1945; Kamikaze Missions - Lt Yoshinori Yamaguchi's Yokosuka D4Y3 (Type 33 Suisei) "Judy" in a suicide dive against USS Essex. The dive brakes are extended and the non-self-sealing port wing tank is trailing fuel vapor and/or smoke 25 November 1944.
German V1 flying-bomb and V2 Rockets - Preparations for a Salvo Launch of V-2 Rockets in the Heidelager near Blizna (Poland) (1944), credit German History in Documents and Images GHDI.
Eastern Front (World War II); Germans race towards Stalingrad. August 1942; Soviet children during a German air raid in the first days of the war, June 1941, by RIA Novosti archive; Soviet sniper Roza Shanina in 1944. About 400,000 Soviet women served in front-line duty units Caucasus Mountains, winter 1942/43; Finnish ski patrol: the invisible enemy of the Soviet Army with an unlimited supply of skis; Men of the German Engineers Corps cross a river which is swollen after the first autumn rains, to strengthen bridges linking the German positions on the central front in Russia. by Keystone / Getty Images. October 1942; Russian snipers fighting on the Leningrad front during a blizzard. Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images, 1943; German soldiers surrendering to the Russians in Stalingrad, the soldier holding the white flag of surrender is dressed in white so that there could be no doubt of his intentions, a Russian soldier is on the right of the photograph. by Keystone / Getty Images, January 1943.
May 11th, 1953
Tornadoes:
1953 - Waco tornado outbreak (1953); An F5 tornado hits downtown Waco, Texas, killing 114.
1970 - Lubbock Tornado (1970); An F5 tornado, hits Lubbock, Texas, killing 26.
Wikipedia Photo: Weather Front System; Tornado near Anadarko, Oklahoma; North Dakota Tornado; F3 Category Tornado Swirls Across A South Dakota Prairie by Carsten Peter; A waterspout parallels a lightning strike over Lake Okeechobee in Florida, by Fred K. Smith, National Geographics, Extream Instability.
May 11th, 1960
World War II: Holocaust;
1960 - In Buenos Aires, Argentina, four Israel Mossad agents capture fugitive Nazi Adolf Eichmann who is living under the alias of Ricardo Klement.
1987 - Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.
Wikipedia Photo: World War II, The Holocaust. Sources: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum USHMM, History 1900s, Internet Masters of Education Technology IMET, Techno Friends, Veterans Today, Concern.
May 11th, 1973
Vietnam War:
1973 - Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg has charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times dismissed.
Wikipedia Photo: Vietnam_War; Side view of an HH-53 helicopter of the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron as seen from the gunner's position on an A-1 of the 21st Specialist Operations Squadron. (USAF Photo by Ken Hackman), Boston Globe;
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, credit Free Republic;
Vietnam War: The Big Picture / Boston Globe.
May 11th, 1987
In Baltimore, Maryland, the first human heart - lung transplant takes place. The surgery is performed by Dr. Bruce Reitz of the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Wikipedia Photo: Human Heart credit Robert Clark, National Geographic.
May 11th, 1996
Aviation accidents and incidents:
1996 - After the aircraft's departure from Miami, Florida, 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 on board.
Wikipedia Photo: ● Pan AM 747 ● U.S. Airways flight 1549 also known as the "Miracle on the Hudson" navigates an exit ramp near Burlington, New Jersey, June 5, 2011 ● Passengers stand on the wings of a U.S. Airways plane as a ferry pulls up to it after it landed in the Hudson River in New York, Reuters ● US Airways plane crashes into New York Hudson River, Photo: AP
May 11th, 1996
1996 Mount Everest disaster on a single day eight people die during summit attempts on Mount Everest.
Wikipedia Image: Mount Everest: the Earth's highest mountain, with a peak at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level. (Located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas)
May 11th, 1997
IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats world champion 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.
Wikipedia Photo: IBM supercomputer Deep Blue vs. Garry Kasparov, credit The Tech Journal.
May 11th, 1998
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971:
1998 - India conducts three underground atomic tests in Pokhran to include a thermonuclear device.
Wikipedia Image: Map Satellite India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet AR, Bangladesh.
May 11th, 2000
Chechen War:
Galashki ambush; Chechen separatists ambush Russian paramilitary forces in the Republic of Ingushetia.
Wikipedia Photo: Chechen_War: War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (Chechen guerrilla warfare and raids on the flatlands vs Russia's overwhelming manpower, weaponry, and air support); Russian Mil Mi-8 helicopter brought down by Chechen fighters near the capital Grozny in 1994; Second Battle of Grozny; Battle of Grozny, Russian federal forces attempted to seize control of the mountainous area of Chechnya but were set back by Chechen guerrilla warfare and raids; Chechen little boy with makeshift wooden rifle.
May 11th, 2016
Modern conflicts in the Middle East and terrorist attacks:
2016 - Baghdad bombings; More than 110 people are killed in an ISIS bombing in Baghdad.
2014 - Stade Tata Raphaël disaster; Fifteen people are killed and 46 injured in Kinshasa in a stampede caused by tear gas being thrown into soccer stands by police officers attempting to defuse a hostile incident.
2013 - Reyhanlı bombings; At least 46 people are killed by a pair of car bombs in Reyhanlı, Turkey.
Wikipedia Photo: Middle East satellite image, NASA. ● Camels are seen early morning on a beach in the Marina area of Dubai October 16, 2008. (Steve Crisp, Reuters) ● A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad burns during clashes between rebels and Syrian troops in Selehattin, near Aleppo, on July 23, 2012. (Bulent Kilic, AFP / GettyImages) ● Egyptians gather in their thousands in Tahrir Square to mark the one year anniversary of the revolution on Jan. 25, 2012 in Cairo Egypt. Tens of thousands have gathered in the square on the first anniversary of the Arab uprising which toppled President Hosni Mubarak. (Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images) ● Black smoke rises above the Tehran skyline as supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi burn tires and other material in the streets as they fight running battles with police to protest the declared results of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, June 13, 2009. (Ben Curtis, AP) ● The Iron Dome defense system fires to interecpt incoming missiles from Gaza in the port town of Ashdod, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. (Tsafrir Abayov, AP)