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Daily Calendar for Wednesday, May 11, 2016 | Almanac.com

Daily Calendar for Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Born

  • Chang and Eng Bunker (original Siamese” twins”) –
  • Irving Berlin (composer) –
  • Margaret Rutherford (actress) –
  • Martha Graham (dancer) –
  • Salvador Dali (artist) –
  • Richard Feynman (physicist) –
  • Sheila Burnford (author of The Incredible Journey) –
  • Bernard Fox (actor) –
  • Doug McClure (actor) –
  • Boyd Gaines (actor) –
  • Natasha Richardson (actress) –
  • Jonathan Jackson (actor) –
  • Cory Monteith (actor) –
  • Matt Leinart (football player) –

Died

  • Sir John Herschel (astronomer) –
  • Lex Barker (actor) –
  • Lester Flatt (musician) –
  • Bob Marley (Reggae musician, founding member of The Wailers) –
  • Douglas Adams (science fiction author) –
  • Joseph Bonanno (gangster) –
  • Doris Eaton Travis (last of the Ziegfeld Follies chorus girls) –
  • Norman Lloyd (actor; died at 106 years old) –

Events

  • First known dated printed book, Wang Jie’s copy of the Diamond Sutra published–
  • Prime Minister Spencer Perceval assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons–
  • A new dance called The Waltz arrived in English ballrooms–
  • President James Monroe rode on The Savannah to inspect the harbor defenses of Savannah, Georgia, making him the first U.S. president to ride on a steamboat–
  • Minnesota admitted as the 32nd state–
  • Pullman strike ended in defeat for organized labor–
  • Glacier National Park in Montana established–
  • A 20-ton meteor fell to the ground near Blackstone, Virginia–
  • Siam changed its name to Thailand–
  • Linda McCartney became the first woman photographer to shoot a Rolling Stone cover–
  • The first heart-lung transplant took place in Baltimore, Maryland–
  • After taking off from Miami, FL, a fire started by improperly-handled oxygen canisters in the cargo hold of Atlanta-bound ValuJet Flight 592, and caused the Douglas DC-9 to crash in the Florida Everglades killing all 110 on board–

Weather

  • A tornado hit Newark, New Jersey–
  • A strong 2-day dust storm removed massive amounts of topsoil from the Great Plains in one of the worst dust storms of the Dust Bowl–
  • Dust storms darkened skies from Oklahoma to the Atlantic Ocean –
  • The Waco Tornado (registering at F5) hit downtown Waco, Texas–
  • Spring snowstorm hit western part of South Dakota. In some areas the snow was accompanied by thunder, lightning, sleet, and hail–

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