Ernie Fletcher, Republican governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky, is indicted on three misdemeanor counts of conspiracy, official misconduct and political discrimination for hiring, promoting, demoting and firing state employees based on political loyalties.//www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/breaking_news/14556190.htm (Lexington Herald-Leader)
Sunday, May 11, 2003
Ponds on the north side of Catoctin Mountain, near Gambrill Park Road and Tower Road in Frederick, Maryland, are under investigation by the FBI, in connection with the 2001 anthrax attacks. FBI investigators found anthrax spores and other evidence in their search of ponds in the area during December and January 2002. Divers retrieved a clear box with holes that could accommodate protective biological safety gloves, as well as vials wrapped in plastic from a pond in the Frederick Municipal Forest. A new theory has been developed suggesting how a criminal could have packed anthrax spores into envelopes without harming (him/her) self. Officials from Fort Detrick have stated that the water is safe because once in water anthrax spores cluster together and descend to the bottom. The water in the pond has been tested several times over the course of the investigation, and all indications are that the water is safe.
After takeoff from Miami, Florida, a fire started by improperly handled oxygen canisters in the cargo hold of Atlanta-bound ValuJet Flight 592, causes the Douglas DC-9 to crash in the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 on board.
Aberdeen FC beat Real Madrid 2–1 (after extra time) to win the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983 and become only the third Scottish side to win a European trophy
NASA announces the crew for the "Apollo 7" space mission (first manned Apollo flight): Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham.
In Mexico, schoolteacher Lucio Cabañas begins guerrilla warfare in Atoyac de Alvarez, west of Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero.
The Soviet Union ratifies a treaty with the United States and the United Kingdom, banning nuclear weapons from outer space.
U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles declares that Indochina is important but not essential to the security of Southeast Asia thus ending any prospect of American intervention on the side of France.
The "Creditanstalt", Austria's largest bank, goes bankrupt, beginning the banking collapse in Central Europe that causes a worldwide financial meltdown.
The United States Post Office Department (later renamed the United States Postal Service) begins the 3rd regular airmail service in the world (between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC), the 1st being from Allahabad to Naini Junction in India on the 18th February 1911 and the 2nd being from London to Windsor Castle on the 22nd June 1911.
Albert Einstein submits his doctoral dissertation "On the Motion of Small Particles...", in which he explains Brownian motion. In the course of the year, Einstein publishes four papers, formulates the theory of special relativity and explains the photoelectric effect by quantization. 1905 is regarded as his miracle year.
Tuesday, May 11, 1897
The patent for an Exhaust muffler for engines was awarded to Milton and Marshall Reeves of Columbus, Indiana.
War of the Regulation: North Carolina Governor William Tryon marches his militia out of Hillsborough to come to the aid of General Hugh Waddell's beleaguered forces. Tryon's army stops at Alamance Creek, away from the Regulator army.
Tuesday, May 11, 1751
The Pennsylvania legislature grants a charter to Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond for the establishment in Philadelphia of the first hospital in the Colonies.
Tuesday, May 11, 1745
War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy ndash French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army including the Black Watch.
Moscow Uprising of 1682: A mob takes over the Kremlin and lynches the leading boyars and military commanders.
Wednesday, May 11, 1678
French admiral d'Estrees runs his whole fleet aground in Curaçao.
June ndash French buccaneer Michel de Grammont leads 6 pirate ships and 700 men in a daring raid on Spanish-held Venezuela, reaching inland as far as Trujillo, Venezuela.
Friday, May 1, 1573 (Julianian calendar)
16 ndash The Duke of Anjou is elected to the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by the Polish nobility.
Wednesday, May 1, 1560 (Julianian calendar)
At the Battle of Djerba, the Ottoman fleet, commanded by under Piyale Pasha, overwhelms a large joint European (mainly Spanish) fleet, sinking about half its ships.
Sunday, May 1, 1502 (Julianian calendar)
Christopher Columbus leaves Cadiz, Spain for his fourth and final trip to the 'New World'. He explores Central America, and discovers St. Lucia (possibly), the Isthmus of Panama, Honduras, and Costa Rica.
Wednesday, May 3, 1318 (Julianian calendar)
Battle of Dysert O'Dea: The Irish armies of Conor O'Dea defeat the Normans under Richard de Clare.
Al-Andalus: The city of Mérida rises against the Umayyad rule. The emir Muhammad regains control, have the walls of the city destroyed and supports the rival creation of the city of Badajoz as a retaliation.ref name=rucquoi1993
In Metz, Charles the Bald and Louis the German decide on a division of the lands of former emperor Lothar (now in possession of Lothar II and Louis II).
Emperor Constantine the Great dedicates Constantinople, or "Nova Roma" (modern Istanbul), and moves the capital of the Roman Empire there from Rome. He has spent 4 years building the city on the site of ancient Byzantium having chosen the site for its strategic location (a seaport with easy access to Anatolia and the Danube).
Pagan temples are starting to be progressively abandoned, destroyed or left to fall into disrepair, save those that are transformed into Christian churches.
Ezana, king of Axum, extends his area of control to the west. He defeats the Nobates, and destroys the kingdom of Meroë.
