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Notable Deaths on May 11
55 people
912 – 2024
May 11 has seen 55 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 912 – 2024. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
1983 — Zenna Henderson
American writer (born 1917)
Did you know
Henderson was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1959 for her novelette Captivity
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Zenna Chlarson Henderson was an American elementary school teacher and science fiction and fantasy author
Did you know
Many of her stories center around human aliens called "The People", who have special powers
Did you know
Science fiction authors Lois McMaster Bujold, Orson Scott Card, Connie Willis, Dale Bailey, and Kathy Tyers have cited her as an influence on their work.
Byzantine Emperor, the second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (born 866)
Leo VI, also known as Leo the Wise, was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty, he was very well read, leading to his epithet. During his reign, the renaissance of letters, begun…
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912
Italian priest and mathematician (born 1552)
Matteo Ricci was an Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He created the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu, a 1602 map of the world written in Chinese characters. In 2022, the Apostolic…
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1610
1st Earl of Chatham, English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (born 1708)
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him "Chatham" or "Pitt the Elder" to distinguish him from his son William…
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1778
1779
English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1762)
Spencer Perceval was a British statesman and barrister who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1809 until his assassination in May 1812. He is the only British prime minister to have been assassinated,…
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1812
1848
French businesswoman (born 1777)
Jeanne Françoise Julie Adélaïde Récamier, known as Juliette, was a French socialite whose salon drew people from the leading literary and political circles of early 19th-century Paris. An icon of neoclassicism, Récamier…
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1849
Scottish-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Tasmania (born 1816)
Frederick Maitland Innes was Premier of Tasmania from 4 November 1872 to 4 August 1873.
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1882
English businessman and philanthropist, founded the Cadbury Company (born 1801)
John Cadbury was an English Quaker and businessman, who founded the Cadbury chocolate company in Birmingham, England. He was also involved in activism and philanthropy, championing workers' rights, environmental and…
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1889
Australian politician, 20th Premier of South Australia (born 1850)
Charles Cameron Kingston was an Australian politician. From 1893 to 1899 he was Premier of South Australia, leading a coalition of Radicals supported by the Labor Party.
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1908
German astronomer and physicist (born 1873): xix
Karl Schwarzschild was a German physicist and astronomer.
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1916
Australian politician, 25th Premier of Victoria (born 1861)
George Alexander Elmslie was an Australian politician who served as the 25th and shortest serving Premier of Victoria, and the first Labor Premier.
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1918
Italian-American mob boss (born 1878)
Vincenzo Colosimo, known as James "Big Jim" Colosimo or as "Diamond Jim", was an Italian-American Mafia crime boss who emigrated from Calabria, Italy, in 1895 and built a criminal empire in Chicago based on…
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1920
American novelist, literary critic, and playwright (born 1837)
William Dean Howells was an American realist novelist, literary critic, playwright, and diplomat, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of The Atlantic Monthly, as…
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1920
1927
Slovak-American priest, architect, botanist, and painter (born 1864)
Jozef Murgaš was a Slovak inventor, architect, botanist, painter and Roman Catholic priest. He contributed to radio development, which at the time was commonly known as "wireless telegraphy".
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1929
Canadian golfer and cricketer (born 1858)
George Seymour Lyon was a Canadian golfer, an Olympic gold medalist in golf, an eight-time Canadian Amateur Championship winner, and a member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. He worked in the insurance industry.
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1938
Irish Republican, died on hunger strike (born 1915)
Seán McCaughey was an Irish militant and Republican activist. He was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) leader in the 1930s and 1940s and hunger striker.
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1946
English cricketer (born 1874)
Gilbert Laird Jessop was an English cricket player, often reckoned to have been one of the fastest run-scorers cricket has ever known. He was Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1898 and compiled the fastest century ever…
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1955
American businessman and philanthropist (born 1874)
John Davison Rockefeller Jr. was an American financier and philanthropist. Rockefeller was the fifth child and only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. He was involved in the development of the vast…
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1960
American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1888): 169
Herbert Spencer Gasser was an American physiologist, and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1944 for his work with action potentials in nerve fibers while on the faculty of Washington University…
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1963
Finnish politician (born 1901)
Johannes Aadolfinpoika Mustonen was a Finnish politician and member of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature of Finland. A member of the Communist Party of Finland and the Finnish People's Democratic…
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1964
American painter (born 1930)
James Edward Brewton was an American painter and printmaker who synthesized expressionism, graffiti and Pataphysics.
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1967
American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1914)
Lester Raymond Flatt was an American singer, bluegrass guitarist, and mandolinist, best known for his collaboration with banjo picker Earl Scruggs in the duo Flatt and Scruggs.
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1979
1980
Norwegian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1897)
Odd Hassel was a Norwegian physical chemist and Nobel Laureate.
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1981
Jamaican singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1945)
Robert Nesta Marley was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska, and rocksteady, and was renowned for his distinctive vocal and…
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1981
American cartoonist, created Dick Tracy (born 1900)
Chester Gould was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the Dick Tracy comic strip, which he wrote and drew from 1931 to 1977, incorporating numerous colorful and monstrous villains.
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1985
American football player and coach (born 1894)
Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard was an American professional football player and coach. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). Pollard and Bobby Marshall were…
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1986
CIA counterintelligence leader (born 1917)
James Jesus Angleton was an American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer who served as chief of the counterintelligence department of the CIA from 1954 to 1975. According to director of central intelligence…
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1987
British-Soviet double agent (born 1912)
Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union. In 1963, he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring that had divulged British secrets…
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1988
Greek Singer, composer and lyricist (born 1935)
Stratos Dionysiou, nicknamed "To Geraki tis Pistas", was a Greek singer, composer and lyricist.
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1990
Russian farm worker (born 1906)
Ulyana Spiridonovna Barkova was a Russian dairy farmer who was the forewoman at the Karavaevo state farm in the Kostroma Oblast who was twice awarded the title of Heroine of Socialist Labour.
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1991
American actor, director, and producer (born 1928)
Timothy Agoglia Carey was an American film and television character actor who was typically cast as manic or violent characters who are driven to extremes. He is particularly known for his collaborations with Stanley…
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1994
English novelist and screenwriter (born 1952)
Douglas Noël Adams was an English author, humourist, and screenwriter. He was best known as the creator of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a 1978 radio comedy series which he adapted into a "trilogy" of five books…
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2001
Canadian journalist and politician (born 1912)
Louise Marguerite Renaude Lapointe, was a Canadian journalist and a Senator. She was among the first Canadian women to work as a professional journalist and the first French-Canadian woman to preside over the Senate.
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2002
2002
English bass player (born 1945)
David Noel Redding was an English rock musician, best known as the bass player for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and guitarist/singer for Fat Mattress.
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2003
Canadian politician, 17th Canadian Minister of National Defence (born 1908)
Léo Alphonse Joseph Cadieux was a Canadian politician.
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2005
Welsh minister and historian (born 1916)
Horton Marlais Davies was a Welsh Protestant minister, historian of Christianity, and painter. After receiving degrees from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Oxford, he became the minister of Wallington…
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2005
American boxer and actor (born 1935)
Floyd Patterson was an American professional boxer who competed from 1952 to 1972, and twice reigned as the world heavyweight champion between 1956 and 1962. At the age of 21, he became the youngest boxer in history to…
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2006
Samoan ruler (born 1913)
Malietoa Tanumafili II was a Samoan paramount chief and politician who was O le Ao o le Malo of Samoa from its independence in 1962, and the Malietoa titleholder from 1940, until his death in 2007.
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2007
Canadian drummer (born 1953)
John Howard Rutsey was a Canadian musician best known as a founding member and original drummer of Rush. He performed on the band's 1974 debut album, but left shortly after its release due to health problems which…
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2008
Central African physician and politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (born 1926)
Abel Nguéndé Goumba was a Central African politician. During the late 1950s, he headed the government in the period prior to independence from France, and following independence he was an unsuccessful candidate for…
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2009
Chilean economist and politician, Chilean Minister Secretary-General of Government (born 1939)
Claudio Huepe García was a Chilean politician, engineer and economist, member of the Christian Democrat party, who occupied several government and political positions. During his career, he was the provincial intendant…
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2009
Indian admiral (born 1915)
Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas "Charles" Nanda, PVSM, AVSM was an Indian Navy admiral who served as the 6th Chief of the Naval Staff from 1 March 1970 until 28 February 1973. He led the Indian Navy during the…
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2009
American dancer and vaudevillian (born 1904)
Doris Eaton Travis was an American dancer, stage and film actress, dance instructor, owner and manager, writer, and rancher, who was the last surviving Ziegfeld Girl, a troupe of acclaimed chorus girls who performed as…
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2010
American basketball player (born 1977)
Robert DeShaun "Tractor" Traylor was an American professional basketball player. He got his nickname because of his hulking frame. Traylor was the sixth pick in the 1998 NBA draft and played seven seasons in the league.…
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2011
American actress, model, and singer (born 1946)
Margaret Ann Lipton was an American model, actress, and singer. She made appearances in many of the most popular television shows of the 1960s before she landed her defining role as flower child Julie Barnes in the…
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2019
American murderer (born 1952)
Thomas Edward Silverstein was an American criminal who spent the last 42 years of his life in prison after being convicted of three separate murders, with a fourth murder conviction being overturned and Silverstein…
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2019
American comedian, actor (born 1927)
Gerald Isaac Stiller was an American comedian and actor. He spent many years as part of the comedy duo Stiller and Meara with his wife, Anne Meara, to whom he was married for over 60 years until her death in 2015.…
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2020
American quarterback (born 1983)
Colton James Brennan was an American football quarterback. He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes, Saddleback Gauchos, and Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. With the Rainbow Warriors, he was a two-time third-team…
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2021
American actor, producer and director (born 1914)
Norman Nathan Lloyd was an American actor, producer, director, and centenarian with a career in entertainment spanning nearly a century. He worked in every major facet of the industry, including theatre, radio,…
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2021
American actress and stuntwoman (born 1946)
Susan Jane Backlinie was an American actress and stuntwoman. She was known for playing Chrissie Watkins, the shark attack victim in the opening beach party scene of Steven Spielberg's 1975 film Jaws.
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2024
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Notable deaths
Who died on May 11?
Zenna Henderson — American science fiction and fantasy writer (1917–1983)
FeaturedZenna Henderson
Death year1983
Known forHer first story was published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1951
Deaths on this date55 (912 – 2024)
Explore May 11
Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.
Also on May 11 in History
2024
Start/Middle of the May 2024 Solar Storms, the most powerful set of Geomagnetic storms since the 2003 Halloween solar storms. Wikipedia →
2024
The 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest is held in Malmö, Sweden. Nemo from Switzerland wins with their song "The Code", making them the contest's first non-binary winner. Wikipedia →
2022
See all events on May 11
The Burmese military executes at least 37 villagers during the Mon Taing Pin massacre in Sagaing, Myanmar. Wikipedia →
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