Happy Birthday May 11

Irving Berlin was born in Tyumen, Russia on May 11, 1888. Tyumen is situated just east of the Ural Mountains and is often regarded as the first Siberian city, from the western direction. His father was a Jewish cantor who moved his family to New York to escape religious persecution in 1893.

Berlin at his first job with a music publisher, age 18

Berlin's big break came in 1906 when he was hired as a singing waiter at the Pelham Café in New York's Chinatown. He caught the eye of Harry Von Tilzer, who hired him to sing his songs at Tony Pastor's Music Hall, considered by many to be the birthplace of vaudeville. He had his first song published the following year. 

Salvador Dalí was born on May 11, 1904 in the town of Figueres close to the French border in Catalonia, Spain. His father was a middle-class lawyer and notary. His mother tempered her husband's strict disciplinary approach and encouraged her son's artistic endeavors. In the 1920s, Salvador Dalí read Freud, took up with other emerging Surrealists, and began actively seeking his subconscious mind so as to paint the visions there.

For more May 11 anniversaries, including the consecration of the city of Constantinople, the oldest known dated printed book and the first documented use of the phrase "heavy metal," check out OnThatDay.