February 11th is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 323 days remaining in the year (324 in leap years).
660 BC • Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
55 • Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman Emperorship, dies under mysterious circumstances in Rome. This clears the way for Nero to become Emperor.
244 • Emperor Gordian III is murdered by mutinous soldiers in Zaitha (Mesopotamia). A mound is raised at Carchemish in his memory.
1531 • Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.
1659 • The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses.
1752 • Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the United States, is opened by Benjamin Franklin.
1790 • Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, petitions U.S. Congress for abolition of slavery.
1794 • first session of United States Senate open to the public.
1808 • Judge Jesse Fell experimented by burning anthracite coal to keep his house warm. He successfully showed how clean the coal burned and how cheaply it could be used as a heating fuel.
1809 • Robert Fulton files a patent for improvements to steamboat navigation
1812 • The term “gerrymandering” had its beginning when the governor of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry, signed a redistricting law that favored his party.
1826 • Swaminarayan wrote the Shikshapatri, an important test within the Swaminarayan faith.
1826 • University College London is founded under the name University of London.
1840 • Gaetano Donizetti’s opera La Fille du Régiment receives its first performance in Paris.
1843 • Giuseppe Verdi’s opera I Lombardi receives its first performance in Milan.
1855 • Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia, by Abuna Salama III in a ceremony at the church of Derasge Maryam
1858 • A French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary near Lourdes.
1861 • American Civil War: United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.
1873 • King Amadeus I of Spain abdicates.
1878 • The first U.S. bicycle club, Boston Bicycle Club, was formed.
1889 • Meiji Constitution of Japan is adopted; the first Diet of Japan convenes in 1890.
1903 • Anton Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony receives its first performance in Vienna.
1905 • Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer nos.
1916 • Emma Goldman is arrested for lecturing on birth control.
1919 • Friedrich Ebert (SPD), is elected President of Germany.
1929 • The Lateran Treaty was signed. Italy now recognized the independence and sovereignty of Vatican City.
1936 • Pumping began the process to build San Francisco’s Treasure Island.
1937 • A sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers Union.
1938 • BBC Television produces the world’s first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play R.U.R., which coined the term “robot”.
1939 • A Lockheed XP-38 flies from California to New York in seven hours two minutes.
1940 • NBC radio presented The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street for the first time.
1941 • The first gold record is presented to Glenn Miller for Chattanooga Choo Choo.
1942 • The Battle of Bukit Timah is fought in Singapore during World War Two.
1943 • General Dwight David Eisenhower was selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
1945 • During World War Two, the Yalta Agreement was signed by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin.
1953 • President Dwight Eisenhower refuses clemency appeal for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.
1953 • The Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Zion.
1957 • The NHL Players Association was formed in New York City.
1958 • Ruth Carol Taylor was the first black woman to become a stewardess by making her initial flight.
1959 • The Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, which will later become South Yemen, is created as a protectorate of the United Kingdom.
1960 • Jack Paar walked off while live on the air on the Tonight Show with four minutes left. He did this in response to censors cutting out a joke from the show the night before.
1963 • Julia Child’s show The French Chef premieres.
1964 • Greeks and Turks begin fighting in Limassol, Cyprus.
1964 • The Republic of China (Taiwan) breaks off diplomatic relations with France.
1964 • The Beatles hold their first concert in the United States at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, DC.
1968 • Zionist-Jordanian border clashes.
1968 • The new 20,000 seat Madison Square Garden officially opened in New York. This was the fourth Garden.
1971 • 87 countries, including the U.S., UK, and USSR, sign the Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters.
1972 • McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. and Life magazine canceled plans to publish an autobiography of Howard Hughes. The work turned out to be fake.
1973 • Vietnam War: first release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place.
1975 • Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to head a major party in Britain when she was elected leader of the Conservative Party.
1978 • Censorship: the People’s Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, Shakespeare and Dickens.
1979 • Nine days after the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran (after 15 years in exile) power was seized by his followers.
1981 • 100,000 U.S. gallons (380 m3) of radioactive coolant leak into the containment building of TVA Sequoyah 1 nuclear plant in Tennessee, contaminating eight workers.
1982 • ABC-TV’s presentation of The Winds of War concluded. The 18-hour miniseries cost $40 million to produce and was the most watched television program in history at the time.
1982 • France nationalized five groups of major industries and 39 banks.
1984 • The tenth space shuttle mission returned to Earth safely.
1987 • Philippines constitution goes into effect.
1989 • Rev. Barbara C. Harris became the first woman to be consecrated as a bishop in the Episcopal Church.
1990 • In Tokyo, Japan, James “Buster” Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson in the tenth round to win the heavyweight championship. Douglas, a 42 to 1 underdog, deals Mike Tyson his first professional loss with the largest upset in boxing history and becomes the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
1990 • Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa.
1993 • Janet Reno was appointed to the position of attorney general by Bill Clintoon. She was the first female to hold the position.
1997 • Space shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
2000 • Great Britain suspended self-rule in Northern Ireland after the Irish Republican Army (IRA) failed to begin decommissioning (disarming) by a February deadline.
2000 • The space shuttle Endeavor took off. The mission was to gather information for the most detailed map of the earth ever made.
2001 • A Dutch programmer launched the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennis star.
2002 • The six stars on NBC’s Friends signed a deal for $24 million each for the nineth and final season of the series.
2006 • In Texas, Dick Shamely shot and wounded a campanion during a quail hunt.
2008 • Rebel East Timorese soldiers seriously wound President José Ramos-Horta. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado is killed in the attack.
2009 • John Dingell of Michigan became the longest serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He had more than 53 years of service.
2011 • The first wave of the Egyptian revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Moobark and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 18 days of protests.
2013 • Militants claiming to be from the Sultanate of Sulu invade Lahad Datu District, Sabah, Malaysia, beginning the Lahad Datu standoff.
2013 • Nazi sympathizer Pope Benedict XVI announces his resignation, which is set to take effect on February 28th, 2013.
2014 • A military transport plane crashes in a mountainous area of Oum El Bouaghi Province in eastern Algeria, killing 77 people.
2015 • A university student was murdered as she resisted an attempted rape in Turkey, sparking nationwide protests and public outcry against harassment and violence against women.
2016 • It was reported that scientists had detected gravitational waves. The waves had been detected on September 14th, 2015 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors in Livingston, LA, and Hanford, WA.
2016 • A man shoots six people dead at an education center in Jizan Province, Saudi Arabia.
2017 • North Korea prompts international condemnation by test firing a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan.
2018 • Saratov Airlines Flight 703 crashes near Moscow, Russia. All 71 people on board die.
2020 • Covid 19 pandemic: The World Health Organization officially names the coronavirus outbreak as Covid 19, with the virus being designated SARS-CoV-2.
Births
1847 • Thomas Edison, American robber baron and patent thief (d. 1931)
1909 • Max Baer, American boxer, referee, and actor (d. 1959)
1919 • Eva Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and singer (d. 1995)
1921 • Lloyd Bentsen, American Dimocrat politician (d. 2006)
1924 • Budge Patty, American tennis player (d. 2021)
1925 • Virginia E. Johnson, American psychologist and academic (d. 2013)
1926 • Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-American actor and producer (d. 2010)
1928 • Hattie N. Harrison, American educator and Dimocrat politician (d. 2013)
1928 • Constance Bartlett Hieatt, American scholar (d. 2011)
1934 • Mel Carnahan, American lieutenant, lawyer, and Dimocrat politician, 51st Governor of Missouri (d. 2000)
1934 • Tina Louise, American actress and singer
1934 • Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and politician, leader of Panama (d. 2017)
1936 • Burt Reynolds, American actor, director and producer (d. 2018)
1937 • Phillip Walker, American singer and guitarist (d. 2010)
1938 • Jim Sochor, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
1939 • Gerry Goffin, American songwriter (d. 2014)
1940 • Mick Staton, American soldier and Repuglican politician (d. 2014)
1941 • Sergio Mendes, Brazilian pianist and composer
1942 • Otis Clay, American singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
1943 • Alan Rubin, American trumpet player (d. 2011)
1944 • Mike Oxley, American lawyer and Repuglican politician (d. 2016)
1947 • Roy Carrier, American accordion player (d. 2010)
1948 • Al Johnson, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2013)
1953 • Tom Veryzer, American baseball player (d. 2014)
1953 • Jeb Bush, American banker and Repuglican politician, 43rd Governor of Florida
1959 • Harold J. Greene, American general (d. 2014)
1962 • Sheryl Crow, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
1964 • Sarah Palin, American Repuglican politician, 11th Governor (1st 1/2 Governor) and absolute bimbo wingnut of Alaska
1967 • Dyron Nix, American basketball player (d. 2013)
1969 • Bill Warner, American motorcycle racer (d. 2013)
1969 • Jennifer Aniston, American actress and producer
Deaths
1650 • René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1596)
1976 • Lee J Cobb, American actor (b. 1911)
1982 • Eleanor Powell, American actress and dancer (b. 1912)
1986 • Frank Herbert, American journalist and author (b. 1920)
1994 • William Conrad, American actor (b. 1920)
2006 • Peter Benchley, American author and screenwriter (Jaws) (b. 1940)
2010 • Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer (b. 1969)
2011 • Chuck Tanner, American baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
2012 • Whitney Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (b. 1963)
2013 • Jim Boatwright, American basketball player and coach (b. 1951)
2014 • Tito Canepa, Dominican-American painter (b. 1916)
2015 • Bob Simon, American journalist (b. 1941)
2015 • Jerry Tarkanian, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930)
2016 • Kevin Randleman, American mixed martial artist and wrestler (b. 1971)
2018 • Vic Damone, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1928)
2018 • Jan Maxwell, American stage and television actress (b. 1956)
2020 • George Coyne, American priest, astronomer, and theologian (b. 1933)