Calendar date · May

What happened on May 11

On May 11, 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.

Events

37

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Taurus

Featured moment · 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.

Constantine I, also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a pivotal role in elevating the status of Christianity in Rome, the Edict of Milan decriminalising Christian practice and ceasing Christian persecution. This was a turning point in the Christianisation of the Roman Empire.

People

Born on May 11

Konsta Helenius 2006– Finnish ice hockey player (born 2006)
Fermín López 2003– Spanish footballer (born 2003)
Yūki Tsunoda 2000– Japanese racing driver (born 2000)
Wang Chuqin 2000– Chinese table tennis player
Sabrina Carpenter 1999– American singer, songwriter, and actress (born 1999)
Viktória Kužmová 1998– Slovak tennis player (born 1998)
Coi Leray 1997– American rapper and singer (born 1997)
Lana Condor 1997– American actress (born 1997)
Adin Hill 1996– Canadian ice hockey player (born 1996)
Show 9 more — notable births on May 11
Gelson Martins 1995– Portuguese footballer (born 1995)
Sachia Vickery 1995– American tennis player
Shira Haas 1995– Israeli actress (born 1995)
Hagos Gebrhiwet 1994– Ethiopian long-distance runner (born 1994)
Nene Macdonald 1994– Papua New Guinea international rugby league footballer
Maurice Harkless 1993– American-Puerto Rican basketball player (born 1993)
Miguel Sanó 1993– Dominican baseball player (born 1993)
Thibaut Courtois 1992– Belgian footballer (born 1992)
Pablo Sarabia 1992– Spanish footballer (born 1992)

People

Died on May 11

Brandon Clarke Canadian basketball player (1996–2026)
Susan Backlinie American actress and stuntwoman (1946–2024)
Colt Brennan American football player (1983–2021)
Norman Lloyd American actor, producer and director (1914–2021)
Jerry Stiller American comedian and actor (1927–2020)
Peggy Lipton American actress (1946–2019)
Thomas Silverstein American murderer (1952–2019)
Robert Traylor American basketball player (1977–2011)
Doris Eaton Travis American actress (1904–2010)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on May 11
Abel Goumba Central African politician (1926–2009)
Claudio Huepe Chilean politician, engineer and economist
Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda Indian naval officer
John Rutsey Canadian drummer (1952–2008)
Malietoa Tanumafili II O le Ao o le Malo of Samoa from 1962 to 2007
Floyd Patterson American boxer (1935–2006)
Léo Cadieux Canadian politician (1908-2005)
Horton Davies Welsh Protestant minister and historian (1916–2005)
Noel Redding English musician (1945–2003)

Timeline

Every May 11 on record

  1. 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.

    Roman emperor from 306 to 337

    Constantine I, also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a pivotal role in elevating the status of Christianity in Rome, the Edict of Milan decriminalising Christian practice and ceasing Christian persecution. This was a turning point in the Christianisation of the Roman Empire.

  2. 868 A copy of the Diamond Sūtra is published, the earliest dated and printed book known.

    Buddhist sutra in Mahāyāna Buddhism

    The Diamond Sūtra is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sutra from the genre of Prajñāpāramitā sutras. Translated into a variety of languages over a broad geographic range, the Diamond Sūtra is one of the most influential Mahayana sutras in East Asia, and it is particularly prominent within the Chan tradition, along with the Heart Sutra.

  3. 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.

    King of the English from 959 to 975

    Edgar, also known as Edgar the Peaceful, the Peacemaker and the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. He became king of all England on his brother Eadwig's death. He was the younger son of King Edmund I and his first wife, Ælfgifu.

  4. 1068 Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, is crowned Queen of England.

    Queen of England from 1066 to 1083

    Matilda of Flanders was Queen of England and Duchess of Normandy by marriage to William the Conqueror, and regent of Normandy during his absences from the duchy. She was the mother of at least nine children who survived to adulthood, including two kings of England, William II and Henry I.

  5. 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.

    King of France from 1226 to 1270

    Louis IX, also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis VIII, he was crowned in Reims at the age of 12.

  6. 1560 The Ottoman naval forces inflict a defeat on a Spanish fleet in the battle of Djerba. This marks the highpoint of Ottoman naval dominance in the Mediterranean, which starts declining five years later after the failed siege of Malta.
  7. 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.
  8. 1812 Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons.
  9. 1813 William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth discover a route across the Blue Mountains, opening up inland Australia to settlement.
  10. 1857 Indian Rebellion of 1857: Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British.
  11. 1878 Hödel assassination attempt by anarchist Max Hödel targeting the German Kaiser, Wilhelm I.
  12. 1880 Seven people are killed in the Mussel Slough Tragedy, a gun battle in California.
  13. 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.
  14. 1894 Four thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a wildcat strike.
  15. 1919 Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
Show 15 earlier entries from May 11
  1. 1953 In the deadliest of a series of tornadoes, an F5 tornado kills 114 in Waco, Texas.
  2. 1970 The 1970 Lubbock tornado kills 26 and causes $250 million in damage.
  3. 1973 Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg's charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times are dismissed.
  4. 1973 Aeroflot Flight 6551 crashes in Semey, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (now Kazakhstan), killing all 63 aboard.
  5. 1985 Fifty-six spectators die and more than 200 are injured in the Bradford City stadium fire.
  6. 1987 Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 1998 India conducts three underground atomic tests in Pokhran.
  10. 2000 Second Chechen War: Chechen separatists ambush Russian paramilitary forces in the Republic of Ingushetia.
  11. 2009 An American soldier in Iraq opens fire on a counseling center at Camp Liberty in Baghdad, killing five other US soldiers and wounding three.
  12. 2009 Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on the final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
  13. 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.
  14. 2011 An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 hits Lorca, Spain.
  15. 2011 The Istanbul Convention is signed in Istanbul, Turkey.

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