Browsing: May 11

A Brief History On May 11, 1713, Finnish residents of Helsinki burned their own capital city to the ground rather than allow the Russian invaders to possess their city during the Great Northern War.  The Russians, under Czar Peter the Great, had territorial designs on their neighbors just as the Russians of today under Vladimir Putin are trying to conquer Ukraine. Digging Deeper Ironically, it was the Russian residents of Moscow that burned their own city in 1812 to prevent Napoleon Bonaparte and his invading French Grande Armée from enjoying their pyrrhic victory over the Russians.  The Soviets again used…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on May 11th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On May 11, 1713, Finnish residents of Helsinki burned their own capital city to the ground rather than allow the Russian invaders to possess their city during the Great Northern War. On May 11, 1812, the lobby of the British House of Commons was the scene of an unprecedented and as yet not repeated historical event, the assassination of a British Prime Minister. On May…

A Brief History On May 11, 1812, the lobby of the British House of Commons was the scene of an unprecedented and as yet not repeated historical event, the assassination of a British Prime Minister. Digging Deeper Spencer Perceval had been Prime Minister since October of 1809, representing the Tory party.  Previously he had served as an MP, Solicitor-General, Attorney General, and Chancellor of the Exchequer, the only British politician to hold those offices and then become Prime Minister. On the fateful day, Perceval was shot in the chest by a single pistol round fired by John Bellingham, a British…

A Brief History On May 11, 2020, CNN and other news agencies reported the Iranian Navy while conducting exercises in the Gulf of Oman accidentally killed 19 of their own sailors and wounded another 15.  As we have reported many times in the past, Naval Oops Moments seem to be without any limit, with no navy in the world immune from catastrophic blunders.  We have also reported on incidents concerning so called “friendly fire,” when your own people accidentally shoot, blow up or target their own comrades or equipment.  Sometimes both of these military mishaps come together and combine into…

A Brief History On May 11, 2011, former NBA and current European league basketball player Robert Traylor died of an apparent heart attack at his home in Puerto Rico. He was only 34 years old and had played in a professional basketball game only a couple of weeks prior to his untimely death.  Sadly, the history of basketball is filled with similar sad stories, and today we take a look at some of these athletes that died too young. (By the way, the loss of Kobe Bryant in January of 2020 in a helicopter crash at the age of 41…