Today in History: Atatürk Donated His Farms and Real Estates to the Nation

May 11 is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) according to the Gregorian calendar. The number of days left until the end of the year is 234.

Railways

• 11 May 1939 The foundation of the new State Railways Administration building in Ankara was laid

Events

• 330 – Constantinople (Istanbul) becomes the official capital of the Roman Empire. This city, which was previously called Byzantion, was given the name "New Rome" with a ceremony, but the name Constantinople will be used more.
• 868 – The Diamond Sutra, the earliest known hardcopy book, was printed in China.
• 1811 - The brothers Chang Bunker and Eng Bunker, known as the "Siamese twins", are born. The twins, which are conjoined from their bellies, became the father of this birth, which is seen once in a hundred thousand. They died at the age of 63 and had 18 children.
• 1812 - British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was shot dead in the House of Commons by businessman John Bellingham, who went insane.
• 1858 - Minnesota joins the United States.
• 1867 - Luxembourg gained its independence from France.
• 1920 – Mustafa Kemal Pasha was sentenced to death by the Court of War in Istanbul.
• 1924 - Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz companies merged to form Mercedes-Benz.
• 1927 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is established, distributing the Academy Awards.
• 1938 – Atatürk donated his farms and real estate to the nation.
• 1946 – The titles of “National Chief” and “Unchangeable Chairman” in the CHP charter of President İsmet İnönü were abolished.
• 1949 - Siam officially changes its name to Thailand.
• 1949 - Israel joins the United Nations organization.
• 1960 – Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann is kidnapped by a Mossad team in Buenos Aires.
• 1960 - The first birth control pill is introduced to the market.
• 1961 – The case of violation of the Constitution started in Yassıada.
• 1963 – Prime Minister İsmet İnönü said that the 'Kurdish problem' did not pose a danger.
• 1967 – Greek economist and socialist politician Andreas Papandreou is imprisoned in Athens by the Greek military junta.
• 1981 – Right-wing militant Cengiz Baktemur, who killed Hasan Doğan, Head of Youth Branch of Malatya Doğanşehir Republican People's Party on February 20, 1980, was sentenced to death.
• 1985 – A fire broke out during the football match between Birmingham City FC and Leeds United in Birmingham: 40 people were killed and 150 injured.
• 1987 – Former German Schutzstaffel Klaus Barbie, also known as the "Butcher of Lyon", was a military officer and Gestapo member. He was put on trial in Lyon, France, for crimes he committed during World War II.
• 1987 – First heart-lung transplant performed in Baltimore Maryland.
• 1988 – Kim Philby, who defected to this country when it was revealed that he was spying for the Soviet Union while he was a member of the British Secret Intelligence Service, dies in Moscow at the age of 76.
• 1997 - IBM's supercomputer Deep Blue defeated Gary Kasparov, widely regarded as the greatest chess master of all time.
• 2008 – Felipe Massa won the 4th Turkish Grand Prix for the third time in a row.
• 2013 – There were two explosions in a row in Hatay's Reyhanlı district. While 52 people lost their lives in the explosion, more than 150 people were injured.

Births

• 1680 – Ignaz Kögler, German Jesuit and missionary (d. 1746)
• 1720 – Baron Münchhausen, German writer (d. 1797)
• 1752 – Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, German physician, naturalist, physiologist, and anthropologist (d. 1840)
• 1810 – Grigori Gagarin, Russian painter, Major General, and administrator (d. 1893)
• 1824 – Jean-Léon Gérôme, French painter and sculptor (d. 1904)
• 1835 – Karlis Baumanis, Latvian lyricist (d. 1905)
• 1881 – Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian physicist (d. 1963)
• 1888 – Irving Berlin, American composer and songwriter (d. 1989)
• 1889 – Burhan Felek, Turkish journalist and writer (d. 1982)
• 1890 – Helge Løvland, Norwegian decathlete (d. 1984)
• 1894 – Martha Graham, American modern dancer and choreographer (d. 1991)
• 1904 – Salvador Dali, Spanish surrealist painter (d. 1989)
• 1918 – Mrinalini Sarabhai, Indian dancer (d. 2016)
• 1918 – Richard Feynman, American physicist (d. 1988)
• 1920 – İzzet Özilhan, Turkish industrialist and businessman (d. 2014)
• Nezihe Araz, Turkish writer and journalist (d. 2009)
• 1924 - Antony Hewish, English physicist and Nobel Prize laureate in Physics
• 1925 – Max Morlock, German football player (d. 1994)
• 1928 – Yaacov Agam, Israeli sculptor (who gives op art and kinetic artworks)
• 1930 – Edsger Dijkstra, Dutch computer engineer (d. 2002)
• 1931 – Semih Sergen, Turkish theater artist
• 1941 – Eric Burdon, English vocalist
• 1945 – Şirin Cemgil, Turkish lawyer and one of the pioneers of the youth movement of the 1968 generation (d. 2009)
• 1946 – Jürgen Rieger, German lawyer and Neo-Nazi politician (d. 2009)
• 1949 – Evin Esen, Turkish TV series and theater actress (d. 2012)
• 1950 – Gary Alan Fine, American sociologist
• 1954 – Hasan Mezarcı, Turkish politician and clergyman
• 1955 – Nihat Hatipoğlu, Turkish academic and theologian
• 1963 – Natasha Richardson, British actress (d. 2009)
• 1966 – Christoph Schneider, German drummer
• 1966 – Ümit Kocasakal, Turkish lawyer
• 1968 – Ana Jara Velásquez, Peruvian lawyer and politician
• 1970 – Ferhat Göçer, Turkish singer and medical doctor
• 1976 – İzzet Ulvi Yoter, Turkish politician
• 1978 – Ece Erken, Turkish presenter and actress
• 1978 – Perttu Kivilaakso, Finnish cellist
• 1982 – Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and singer (d. 2013)
• 1982 – Gilles Guillain, Colombian-French actor
• 1983 – Holly Valance, Australian model and actress
• 1984 – Andres Iniesta, Spanish football player
• 1984 – İlker Kaleli, Turkish TV series and movie actor
• 1988 - Blac Chyna, American model and entrepreneur
• 1989 – Giovani dos Santos, Mexican football player
• 1994 – Courtney Williams, American professional basketball player
• 1995 - Shira Haas Israeli actress
• 1997 - Lana Condor, American actress and YouTuber
• 1998 – Görkem Doğan, Turkish basketball player
• 1999 – Sabrina Carpenter, American singer, songwriter, and actress
• 2000 - Yuki Tsunoda, Japanese racing driver

Deaths

• 912 – VI. Leon, Byzantine emperor (b. 866)
• 1610 - Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit missionary and scientist. He is one of the pioneers of interfaith dialogue (d. 1552)
• 1655 – İbşir Mustafa Pasha, Ottoman statesman (b. 1607)
• 1812 – Spencer Perceval, English lawyer and statesman (b. 1762)
• 1837 – Pierre Darcourt, Belgian first long-lived person before 1955 (b. 1729)
• 1849 – Otto Nicolai, German opera composer and conductor (b. 1810)
• 1871 – John Herschel, English mathematician, astronomer, and chemist (b. 1792)
• 1916 – Karl Schwarzschild, German physicist (b. 1873)
• 1916 – Max Reger, German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and teacher (b. 1873)
• 1927 – Juan Gris, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1887)
• 1947 – Frederic Goudy, American graphic designer and educator (b. 1865)
• 1948 – Hamâmizâde İhsan Bey, Turkish poet and anecdote writer (b. 1885)
• 1954 – Sait Faik Abasıyanık, Turkish short story writer (b. 1906)
• 1960 – John D. Rockefeller Jr., American businessman (b. 1874)
• 1962 – Hans Luther, German politician (b. 1879)
• 1973 – Grigori Kozintsev, Soviet film director (b. 1905)
• 1973 – Lex Barker, American actor (b. 1919)
• 1976 – Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect (b. 1898)
• 1981 – Bob Marley, Jamaican guitarist and singer (b. 1945)
• 1981 – Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
• 1988 – Kim Philby, British spy (b. 1912)
• 1991 – Jusuf Hatunić, Bosnia and Herzegovina football player (b. 1950)
• 1996 – Ademir, Brazilian football player (b. 1922)
• 2000 – Faruk Kenç, Turkish film director (b. 1910)
• 2001 – Douglas Adams, English science fiction writer (b. 1952)
• 2001 – Klaus Schlesinger, German writer and journalist (b. 1937)
• 2015 – Sami Hoştan, Turkish Susurluk case convict and Ergenekon case defendant (b. 1947)
• 2017 – Alexander Bodunov, Soviet-Russian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1952)
• 2017 – Mark Colvin, British-born Australian journalist and radio broadcaster (b. 1952)
• 2017 – Clelio Darida, Italian Christian democratic politician (b. 1927)
• 2017 – İbrahim Erkal, Turkish singer, songwriter, composer and actor (b. 1966)
• 2017 – Elisabet Hermodsson, Swedish writer, poet, composer and artist (b. 1927)
• 2018 – Gérard Genette, French literary theorist (b. 1930)
• 2018 – Mehmed Niyazi Özdemir, Turkish historian and writer (b. 1942)
• 2018 – Ulla Sallert, Swedish actress and singer (b. 1923)
• 2019 – Hector Busby, New Zealand entrepreneur, engineer, and traveler (b. 1932)
• 2019 – Gianni De Michelis, Italian politician (b. 1940)
• 2019 – Peggy Lipton, American actress (b. 1946)
• 2019 – Pua Magasiva, Samoa-born New Zealand actress and radio broadcaster (b. 1980)
• 2019 – Silver King, Mexican professional wrestler (b. 1968)
• 2020 – Francisco Javier Aguilar, Spanish professional football player (b. 1949)
• 2020 – Alberto Carpani, Italian singer, DJ and record producer (b. 1956)
• 2020 – Ann Katharine Mitchell, English cryptologist and psychologist (b. 1922)
• 2020 – Roland Povinelli, French politician (b. 1941)
• 2020 – Jerry Stiller, American comedian and actor (b. 1927)