February 11
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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).
[edit] Events
- 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.
- 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 – Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal.
- 1809 – Robert Fulton files a patent for improvements to steamboat navigation
- 1812 – Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry "gerrymanders" for the first time.
- 1814 – Norway's independence is proclaimed, marking the ultimate end of the Kalmar Union.
- 1826 – University College London is founded under the name University of London.
- 1826 – Swaminarayan wrote the Shikshapatri, an important test within the Swaminarayan faith.
- 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
- 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.
- 1889 – Meiji constitution of Japan is adopted; the first Diet of Japan convenes in 1890.
- 1903 – Anton Bruckner's 9th 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 – Fascist Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty.
- 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 7 hours 2 minutes.
- 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 II.
- 1943 – World War II: General Dwight Eisenhower is selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
- 1953 – President Dwight Eisenhower refuses clemency appeal for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.
- 1953 – The Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel.
- 1964 – Greeks and Turks begin fighting in Limassol, Cyprus.
- 1964 – The Republic of China (Taiwan) breaks off diplomatic relations with France.
- 1968 – Israeli-Jordanian border clashes.
- 1971 – Eighty-seven countries, including the US, UK, and USSR, sign the Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters.
- 1973 – Vietnam War: First release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place.
- 1978 – Censorship: the People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, Shakespeare and Dickens.
- 1979 – Islamic revolution of Iran establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
- 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.
- 1987 – Philippines constitution goes into effect.
- 1990 – Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa.
- 1990 – James Buster 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.
- 1997 – Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.