May 2011 in History

Events in History

John Paul II Beatifies Benedict XVI

May 1 Pope John Paul II is beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI

Event of Interest

May 2 Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted man is killed by US special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan

May 2 The 2011 E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strikes Europe, mostly in Germany, leaving more than 30 people dead and many others sick from the bacteria outbreak.
May 6 The US Department of Labor states that 244,000 jobs were created in April, with 235,000 added in February and 221,000 in March, but unemployment continues to grow, reaching 9%
May 13 Portugal slips into double-dip recession after the economy contracts by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2011, with a 0.6% contraction in the last quarter of 2010, it is reported today
May 13 Romania officially leaves the recession after 2 years following economic growth of an annualised 1.6% in the first quarter
May 16 Space shuttle Endeavour launches on its final commission in space

Event of Interest

May 19 Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, project to search for dark matter, led by Samuel C. C. Ting, installed on the International Space Station

May 22 An EF5 Tornado strikes the US city of Joplin, Missouri killing at least 158 people, the single deadliest US tornado since modern record keeping began in 1950

Event of Interest

May 29 Hong Kong student activist group Scholarism started by Joshua Wong and Ivan Lam

Birthdays in History

May 20 Doug the Pug, American internet celebrity dog, born in Ohio

Weddings in History

May 7 "The Amazing Race" winners Meghan Rickey and Cheyne Whitney marry at the Hard Rock Hotel, San Diego

Deaths in History

Osama bin Laden (1957-2011)

May 2 Islamic militant and founder of al-Qaeda, shot and killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan by navy seals during Operation Neptune Spear at 54

May 5 Claude Choules, British-Australian sailor and last surviving combat veteran of both World War I and World War II, dies at 110
May 12 Harry Danielsen, Norwegian educator and politician, dies at 74
May 16 Bill Skiles, American comic (b. 1931)
May 16 Bob Davis, Australian rules footballer (b. 1928)
May 19 Garret FitzGerald, Irish politician and former Taoiseach (b. 1926)
May 24 Huguette Clark, Heiress of the Clark Copper fortune, life-long reclusion from society. (b. 1906)
May 25 Leonora Carrington, British-Mexican Surrealist artist, dies aged 94
May 26 Arisen Ahubudu, Sri Lankan scholar, author and playwright (b. 1920)
May 26 Ben Roberts, British industrial relations expert (London School of Economics), dies at 93
May 28 Alys Robi [Alice Robitaille], French Canadian cabaret and radio of French translations of Latin songs, dies at 88
May 29 Bill Clements, American politician, Governor of Texas (1987-91), dies at 94
May 29 Ferenc Mádl, Hungarian politician, President of Hungary (b. 1931)
May 29 Sergei Bagapsh, Abkhazian president (b. 1949)
May 30 Rosalyn Yalow, American medical physicist (Nobel 1977), dies at 89