TODAY IN HISTORY - MAY 11TH

1820 – HMS Beagle, the ship that will take Charles Darwin on his scientific voyage, is launched.

1846 – President James K. Polk asked for and received a Declaration of War against Mexico, starting the Mexican–American War

1858 – Minnesota is admitted as the 32nd U.S. State.

1880 – Seven people are killed in the Mussel Slough Tragedy, a gun battle in California.

1888 – Irving Berlin, Belarusian-American pianist and composer (d. 1989) is born.

1889 – John Cadbury, English businessman and philanthropist, founded the Cadbury Company (b. 1801) dies.

1889 – An attack upon a U.S. Army paymaster and escort results in the theft of over $28,000 and the award of two Medals of Honor.

1894 – Pullman Strike: Four thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a wildcat strike in Illinois.

1904 – Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter and illustrator (d. 1989) is born.

1907 – Thirty-two Shriners are killed when their chartered train derails at a switch near Surf Depot in Lompoc, California.

1910 – An act of the U.S. Congress establishes Glacier National Park in Montana.

1927 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded.

1933 – Louis Farrakhan, American religious leader is born.

1946 – Robert Jarvik, American cardiologist, developed the Artificial heart is born.

1960 – John D. Rockefeller Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1874) dies.

1970 – The Lubbock tornado, a F5 tornado, hits Lubbock, Texas, killing 26 and causing $250 million in damage.

1972 – United States performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site, which was part of the series Operation Grommet and Operation Toggle.

1973 – Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg has charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times dismissed.

1981 – Bob Marley, Jamaican singer-songwriter and guitarist (Bob Marley and the Wailers) (b. 1945) dies.

1984 – Eight people perish in a fire at Six Flags Great Adventure's Haunted Castle.

1987 – In Baltimore, the first heart–lung transplant takes place. The surgery is performed by Dr. Bruce Reitz of the Stanford University School of Medicine.

1996 – The 1996 Mount Everest disaster: on a single day eight people die during summit attempts on Mount Everest.

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

2006 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer and actor (b. 1935) dies.