February 11 is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 323 days remaining until the end of the year (324 in leap years).
Holidays
- Armed Forces Day (Liberia)
- Christian Feast Day:
- Benedict of Aniane
- Blaise
- Cædmon, first recorded Christian Poet in England, circa 680 CE (Anglicanism)
- Fanny Crosby (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Gobnait
- Gregory II
- February 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of Revenue Service (Azerbaijan)
- Evelio Javier Day (Panay Island, the Philippines)
- Feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes (Catholic Church), and its related observances:
- Inventors’ Day (United States)
- Islamic Revolution’s Victory Day (Iran)
- National Foundation Day (Japan)
- Youth Day (Cameroon)
- 112 day (European Union)
History
In 660 BC, Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
In 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.
In 244, Emperor Gordian III is murdered by mutinous soldiers in Zaitha (Mesopotamia). A mound is raised at Carchemish in his memory.
In 951, Guo Wei, a court official, leads a military coup and declares himself emperor of the new Later Zhou. He was also known by his temple name Taizu (太祖), was the founding emperor of imperial China‘s short-lived Later Zhou during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, reigning from 951 until his death.
In 1177, John de Courcy‘s army defeats the native Dunleavey Clan in Ulster. The English establish themselves in Ulster.
In 1503,Elizabeth of York (b. 1466) passes. She was queen consort of England from 1486 until her death. Throughout her lifetime, she was daughter, sister, niece and wife of English monarchs – Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III and Henry VII, respectively. She was also the mother of Henry VIII, as well as grandmother to his children Mary I, Elizabeth I and Edward VI. Besides, through her daughter Mary, she was great-grandmother to Lady Jane Grey, who was Queen of England for nine days, as well as through her daughter Margaret, she was grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother of Scottish monarchs — James V, Mary and James VI (to a later time of his reign, he also became James I of England), respectively. She is the most recent common ancestor of all English and Scottish monarchs, which reigned after James VI and I.
In 1534, Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.
In 1584, A naval expedition led by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa founds Nombre de Jesús, the first of two short-lived Spanish settlements in the Strait of Magellan.
In 1586, Sir Francis Drake with an English force captures and occupies the Spanish colonial port of Cartagena de Indias for two months, obtaining a ransom and booty.
In 1626, Emperor Susenyos I of Ethiopia and Patriarch Afonso Mendes declare the primacy of the Roman See over the Ethiopian Church, and Roman Catholicism the state religion of Ethiopia.
In 1659, The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses.
In 1752, Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the United States, is opened by Benjamin Franklin.
In 1790, The Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, petitions U.S. Congress for abolition of slavery.
In 1794, First session of United States Senate opens to the public.
In 1808, Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal.
In 1812, Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry “gerrymanders” for the first time.
In 1826, University College London is founded under the name University of London.
In 1826, Swaminarayan writes the Shikshapatri, an important text within Swaminarayan Hinduism.
In 1840, Gaetano Donizetti‘s opera La fille du régiment receives its first performance in Paris, France.
In 1843, Giuseppe Verdi‘s opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata receives its first performance in Milan, Italy.
In 1851, A cricket match on 11 and 12 February, played by teams from Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) and Port Phillip District (now Victoria), was the first between two Australian colonies, recognised in later years as the initial first-class cricket match in Australia. It took place at the Launceston Racecourse (pictured in 2009). The match was one of the celebratory events marking the separation of the Port Phillip District from New South Wales in 1851 as the colony of Victoria. The team representing Port Phillip was drawn from the Melbourne Cricket Club; the Van Diemen’s Land team consisted of players from Launceston and Hobart. The visiting Port Phillip team was expected to have an advantage but had difficulties with the batting conditions and the opposition’s unusually slow bowling. Batting first, Port Phillip scored 82; Van Diemen’s Land replied with 104, assisted by a large number of extras. Batting again, the Victorian team scored 57; the Tasmanian team needed 36 to win, which they accomplished on the second day to record a three-wicket victory. Following this match, intercolonial cricket became increasingly widespread.
In 1855, Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia, by Abuna Salama III in a ceremony at the church of Derasge Maryam
In 1856, The Kingdom of Awadh is annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah, the king of Awadh, is imprisoned and later exiled to Calcutta.
In 1861, American Civil War: United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.
In 1868, Léon Foucault, French physicist (b. 1819) dies. He was a French physicist best known for his demonstration of the Foucault pendulum, a device demonstrating the effect of the Earth’s rotation. He also made an early measurement of the speed of light, discovered eddy currents, and is credited with naming the gyroscope (although he did not invent it).
In 1873, King Amadeo I of Spain abdicates.
In 1889, Meiji Constitution of Japan is adopted; the first National Diet convenes in 1890.
In 1903, Anton Bruckner‘s 9th Symphony receives its first performance in Vienna, Austria.
In 1906, Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer Nos.
In 1916, Emma Goldman is arrested for lecturing on birth control.
In 1919, Friedrich Ebert (SPD), is elected President of Germany.
In 1923, Wilhelm Killing, German mathematician (b. 1847) dies. He was a German mathematician who made important contributions to the theories of Lie algebras, Lie groups, and non-Euclidean geometry. In 1878 Killing wrote on space forms in Crelle’s Journal 86:72–83. Two years later he wrote on computations in hyperbolic geometry in the same journal. Recounting lectures of Weierstrass, he there introduced the hyperboloid model described by Weierstrass coordinates. Killing invented Lie algebras independently of Sophus Lie around 1880. Killing’s university library did not contain the Scandinavian journal in which Lie’s article appeared. (Lie later was scornful of Killing, perhaps out of competitive spirit and claimed that all that was valid had already been proven by Lie and all that was invalid was added by Killing.) In fact Killing’s work was less rigorous logically than Lie’s, but Killing had much grander goals in terms of classification of groups, and made a number of unproven conjectures that turned out to be true. Because Killing’s goals were so high, he was excessively modest about his own achievement.
In 1929, Fascist Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty.
In 1937, A sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers.
In 1938, BBC Television produces the world’s first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R., that coined the term “robot“.
In 1939, A Lockheed P-38 Lightning flies from California to New York in 7 hours 2 minutes.
In 1942, World War II: The Battle of Bukit Timah is fought in Singapore.
In 1943, World War II: General Dwight D. Eisenhower is selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
In 1953, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower refuses a clemency appeal for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
In 1953, The Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel.
In 1959, The Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, which will later become South Yemen, is created as a protectorate of the United Kingdom.
In 1964, Greeks and Turks begin fighting in Limassol, Cyprus.
In 1968, Israeli–Jordanian border clashes rage.
In 1968, The Memphis Sanitation Strike begins.
In 1971, 87 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union, sign the Seabed Arms Control Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in international waters.
In 1973, Vietnam War: First release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place.
In 1976, Alexander Lippisch, German pilot (b. 1894) dies. He was a German pioneer of aerodynamics. He made important contributions to the understanding of flying wings, delta wings and the ground effect. His most famous design is the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-powered interceptor.
In 1978, Censorship: China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.
In 1979, The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
In 1981, 100,000 US gallons (380 m3) of radioactive coolant leak into the containment building of TVA Sequoyah 1 nuclear plant in Tennessee, contaminating 8 workers.
In 1990, Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner.
In 1990, Buster Douglas, a 42:1 underdog, knocks out Mike Tyson in ten rounds at Tokyo to win boxing‘s world Heavyweight title.
In 1996, Bob Shaw, Irish author (b. 1931) dies of cancer. He was a science fiction author and fan from Northern Ireland, noted for his originality and wit. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1979 and 1980. His short story “Light of Other Days” was a Hugo Award nominee in 1967, as was his novel The Ragged Astronauts in 1987. Originally trained as a structural engineer, he worked as an aircraft designer for Short and Harland, then as science correspondent to The Belfast Telegraph from 1966-1969, and as publicity officer for Vickers Shipbuilding (1973-1975), before starting to write full-time. In April 1973, during the Troubles, Shaw and his family moved from Northern Ireland to England, where he produced the majority of his work: first to Ulverston, then to Grappenhall in Warrington. His first wife, Sadie, died suddenly in 1991.
In 1997, Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
In 2008, Rebel East Timorese soldiers seriously wound President José Ramos-Horta. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado is killed in the attack.
In 2008, Government Sponsored Sin – A proposal for a third Baton Rouge casino won 56 percent of the votes in Saturday’s balloting. Pinnacle Entertainment’s bid to the new casino with a 100-room hotel in South Baton Rouge had drawn strong opposition from the two casino boats that have operated for years downtown.
In 2011, The first wave of the Egyptian revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 18 days of protests.
In 2012, Whitney Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (b. 1963) was found dead in her guest room at the Beverly Hilton, in Beverly Hills, California. The official coroner’s report showed that she had accidentally drowned in the bathtub, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors. She was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all time. Houston is one of pop music’s best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170-200 million records sold worldwide. She released six studio albums, one holiday album and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston’s crossover appeal on the popular music charts, as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for “How Will I Know“, influenced several African American women artists who follow in her footsteps.
Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits. She is the second artist behind Elton John and the only woman to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards (formerly “Top Pop Albums”) on the Billboard magazine year-end charts. Houston’s 1985 debut album Whitney Houston became the best-selling debut album by a woman in history. Rolling Stone named it the best album of 1986, and ranked it at number 254 on the magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Her second studio album Whitney (1987) became the first album by a woman to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Houston’s first acting role was as the star of the feature film The Bodyguard (1992). The film’s original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Its lead single, “I Will Always Love You“, became the best-selling single by a woman in music history. With the album, Houston became the first act (solo or group, male or female) to sell more than a million copies of an album within a single week period under Nielsen SoundScan system. The album makes her the top female act in the top 10 list of the best-selling albums of all time, at number four. Houston continued to star in movies and contribute to their soundtracks, including the films Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher’s Wife (1996). The Preacher’s Wife soundtrack became the best-selling gospel album in history.
In 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announces his resignation from the papacy, the first pontiff to resign in more than half a millennium.
In 2014, A military transport plane crashes in a mountainous area of Oum El Bouaghi Province in eastern Algeria, killing 77 people.
In 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.
In 2016, Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy, whose sons Ammon and Ryan led the occupation of the Malhuer National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon, was arrested Wednesday night (February 10) at around 10:00 p.m. at the Portland International Airport. Bundy, 74, was booked into the Multnomah County jail. The reason for his arrest had not been made public by authorities, but various media are reporting that the charges against him relate to the 2014 standoff with federal authorities at his ranch.
In 2016, A man shoots six people dead at an education center in Jizan Province, Saudi Arabia.
In 2017, North Korea prompts international condemnation by test firing a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan.
In 2018, Saratov Airlines Flight 703 crashes near Moscow, Russia with 71 deaths and no survivors. It had been involved in two previous minor incidents in service; an engine was shut down on 28 July 2013 after it surged in flight, and it suffered a nose wheel failure on take-off on 23 August 2013. The aircraft had been leased to Saratov Airlines since February 2017, a year prior to the crash.
In 2020, COVID-19 pandemic: The World Health Organization officially names the coronavirus outbreak as COVID-19, with the virus being designated SARS-CoV-2.