May 11

1792 – After completing the first circumnavigation by an American, merchant sea captain Robert Gray commands the first expedition to sail up the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest

1846 – Following years of dispute over the annexation of the Republic of Texas and nearby territorial claims, President James K. Polk asks Congress for a Declaration of War against Mexico.

1865 – Confederate Brigadier General Meriwether Jeff Thompson surrenders at Jacksonport, Arkansas.

1858 – Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd state of the United States.

1889 – Carrying an Army payroll of over $28,000 in gold and silver from Fort Grant to Fort Thomas, Arizona, Major Joseph Wham and an escort of 11 soldiers of the 10th Cavalry Regiment are attacked by bandits who make off with the money after wounding most of the detail during a lengthy gun fight. Even so, 2 of the defending soldiers, Sergeant Benjamin Brown and Corporal Isaiah Mays are awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions under fire.

1900 – Fighting on Coney Island, James J. ‘The Boilermaker’ Jeffries KOs James J. ‘Gentleman Jim’ Corbett in 23 rounds to take the heavyweight boxing championship.

1910 – Glacier National Park in Montana is established by act of Congress.

1943 – During World War II, U.S. troops invade Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands in an attempt to expel occupying Japanese forces.

1945 – During World War II, while supporting invasion forces off the coast of Okinawa, despite massive screening anti-aircraft fire from the cruiser CL-64 USS Vincennes, the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill is hit by two Mitsubishi Zero fighters in a kamikaze attack, killing 393 sailors and airmen and wounding 264 more.

1949 – United Nations General Assembly Resolution 273 is adopted to admit the State of Israel to membership in the United Nations.

1953 – An F5 force tornado hits Waco Texas, killing 114 people and causing $39 million in damage, while an F4 force tornado hits San Angelo Texas, killing 13 people and causing $3.4 million in damage.

1960 – SS Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann is captured by the Mossad in Argentina and returned to Israel to stand trial on charges of committing war crimes for devising the Holocaust during World War II.

1970 – An F5 force tornado hits central Lubbock, Texas, killing 26 people and causing $250 million in damage.

1973 – Citing government misconduct, District Judge Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr, dismisses Daniel Ellsberg’s espionage charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times.

1987 –SD Hauptsturmführer Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon, France for World War II war crimes for deporting people in France to Death Camps in Poland and personally torturing prisoners.

1996 – ValuJet flight 592, a Douglas DC-9,  crashes in the Florida Everglades 10 minutes after departure from Miami, due to a fire started by improperly handled chemical oxygen generators in the cargo hold, killing all 110 passengers and crew on board.

1997 – Playing in New York City, the IBM Deep Blue chess playing supercomputer defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of a rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world champion level chess player in a classic match format.

2009 – Taken back to his unit after an argument is broken up at a counseling center in Camp Liberty, Baghdad, U.S. Army Sergeant John Russell returns and opens fire on fellow soldiers, killing 5 and wounding 3 before being subdued and later sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.