Once Upon A Time – May 11 – 1893 – Henri Desgrange Establishes World’s 1st Bicycle World Record, Traveling 35.325 Km An Hour

330 Newly built city of Constantinople (Byzantium) dedicated, becomes the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire

1189 Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and 100,000 crusaders depart Regensburg for the Third Crusade

1751 Pennsylvania Hospital founded by Dr. Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin, in Philadelphia

1812 British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons, London. Ironically, descendants of both later stand for the same seat in Parliament at the same time but neither win.

1995 More than 170 countries agree to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons

2000 India’s population officially reaches 1 billion – Astha Arora named India’s billionth baby

Historical Events Today Events in 2023

Today in Film & TV

1969 British comedy troupe Monty Python forms, made up of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin

Today in Music

1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “Cats” (based on poetry by T. S. Eliot) directed by Trevor Nunn, opens at the New London Theatre in the West End, London; runs for 8,949 performances

Today in Sport

1893 Henri Desgrange establishes world’s 1st bicycle world record, travelling 35.325 km (21.95 miles) an hour

1812 Waltz introduced into English ballrooms; some observers consider it disgusting and immoral

Famous Weddings

1963 Prime Minister of Canada John Turner (33) weds Geills McCrae Kilgour (25)

1970 American entertainer Sammy Davis, Jr. (44) weds American entertainer Altovise Gore (26)

1996 Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley (39) weds retail store designer Bill Keenan (43) at Manhattan City Hall in New York