102 things happened on 11 May, from AD 330 to 2024. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
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.
UK story
Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, is crowned Queen of England.
UK story
William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth departed westward from Sydney on an expedition to become the first confirmed Europeans to cross the Blue Mountains.
UK story
HMS Beagle (pictured), the ship that would take Charles Darwin on his voyage, was launched.
UK story
Indian Rebellion of 1857: Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British.
UK story
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats (performers pictured), opened at the New London Theatre.
UK story
David Cameron took office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats formed the country's first coalition government since the Second World War.
UK story
Gordon Brown resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party after failing to strike a coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrats.
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.
A copy of the Diamond Sutra was printed in Tang-dynasty China, making it the world's oldest dated printed book.
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.
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.
War of the Austrian Succession: French forces defeated those of the Pragmatic Allies at the Battle of Fontenoy in the Austrian Netherlands in present-day Belgium.
Minnesota becomes the 32nd U.S. state.
Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted as the 32nd U.S. state.
In response to a 28-percent wage cut, 4,000 Pullman Palace Car Company workers went on strike in Illinois, bringing rail traffic west of Chicago to a halt.
Glacier National Park was established in the U.S. state of Montana.
Uruguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
After a week-long standoff punctuated by military clashes, Japanese forces captured the city of Jinan, Shandong in China.
Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg's charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times are dismissed.
Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in six games to become the first chess computer to win a match against a world champion.
India began the Pokhran-II nuclear-weapons test, its first since the Smiling Buddha test 24 years earlier.
Second Chechen War: Chechen separatists ambush Russian paramilitary forces in the Republic of Ingushetia.
Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on the final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
An earthquake registering Mw 5.1, the worst to hit the region for more than 50 years, struck near Lorca, Spain.
The Istanbul Convention is signed in Istanbul, Turkey.
The 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest is held in Malmö, Sweden. Nemo from Switzerland win with their song "The Code", making them the contest's first non-binary winner.
Start/Middle of the May 2024 Solar Storms, the most powerful set of geomagnetic storms since the 2003 Halloween solar storms.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “David Cameron took office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as the”?
A: 2010. 2010 — that’s 16 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “Gordon Brown resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of”?
A: 2010. 2010 — that’s 16 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
C: HMS Beagle, the ship that would take Charles Darwin on his voyage, was launched. 2010: David Cameron took office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as the · 1981: Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, opened at the New London Theatre · 1820: HMS Beagle, the ship that would take Charles Darwin on his voyage, was launched Find it on the page
“Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, opened at the New London Theatre” happened in 1981. How many years ago was that?
A: 45 years. 2026 − 1981 = 45. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 11 May.
Well-known people who died on 11 May.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 11 May somewhere in the world.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “May 11” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.