It Happened on
May 11, 1850
Parthenope (minor planet designation: 11 Parthenope) is a large, bright main-belt asteroid discovered by Annibale de Gasparis on 11 May 1850, the second of his nine asteroid discoveries.
It was named after Parthenopē, one of the Sirens in Greek mythology, said to have founded the city of Naples. Parthenope means “maiden-voiced”.