Dashed left edge = started before May 2011 ·
Dashed right edge = ongoing beyond May 2011
Events in May 2011 10
1922 – 2011Jackie Cooper (1922-2011)American actor and director, the youngest Best Actor nominee ever and later Perry White in Superman.
1949 – 2011Gil Scott-HeronAmerican poet, musician & authorGil Scott-Heron (1949-2011) was an American poet, musician and author whose spoken-word recordings — above all "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" — made him one of the most influential forefathers of hip-hop and a defining voice of Black political consciousness in American music.
20112011 World Snooker ChampionshipJohn Higgins Title 4Winner: John Higgins; Runner-up: Judd Trump. Score: 18–15.
2011F-22 fleet groundedOxygen system problemsThe entire F-22 fleet is grounded for months after pilots report hypoxia-like symptoms.
2011Parliament's Mothership goes to the SmithsonianMuseum pieceThe stage prop is donated to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
2011Osama bin Laden killedUS Navy SEALs raid AbbottabadAl-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by US Navy SEALs in a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011, nearly ten years after the 9/11 attacks he orchestrated.
2011Jackie Cooper dies in Beverly HillsJackie Cooper dies aged 88.
2011ThorMarvel expands its universeDirected by Kenneth Branagh, starring Chris Hemsworth. The arrogant Norse god is banished to Earth and must prove himself worthy.
2011Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrested in New YorkIMF chief's arrest upends French politicsDominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund and a leading contender for the French presidency, was arrested in New York on charges of sexually assaulting a hotel housekeeper. He resigned from the IMF days later, and the criminal charges were ultimately dropped, but a separate civil suit and the scandal ended his political ambitions. The case drew intense international media coverage.
2011Gil Scott-Heron dies in New York27 May 2011, aged 62Gil Scott-Heron died on the afternoon of 27 May 2011 in a Manhattan hospital, at the age of 62. He had been performing and touring almost until the end of his life.