What Happened On This Day ? May 11
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1998
India executes a series of nuclear weapons tests
The detonations raised fears of a nuclear conflict in the area and sparked international protests. On May 13, 1998, India officially declared itself a nuclear power.
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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.
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1985
56 football fans die in a stadium fire
During a match against Lincoln City, the wooden stands at Valley Parade football ground went up in flames. The exits were locked. A burning cigarette thrown into a waste bin has been determined as the probable cause of the disaster.
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1981
The musical Cats is premiered
The piece sparked a musical craze around the world and catapulted the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber to stardom.
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868
The earliest surviving dated printed book is produced in China
The “Diamond Sutra” is one of the most important texts in Mahayana Buddhism. The British Library in London presently houses the copy.
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1918
Richard Feynman
American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
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1904
Salvador Dali
Spanish painter
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1888
Irving Berlin
American composer
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1861
Frederick Russell Burnham
American soldier, adventurer
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1838
Walter Goodman
English painter, illustrator, author
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2001
Douglas Adams
English/American author, playwright
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1988
Kim Philby
British spy, Soviet double agent
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1981
Bob Marley
Jamaican/American singer-songwriter, guitarist
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1778
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
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1760
Alaungpaya
Burmese king