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There are many events that happened on this date in history. Here are just a few of them!

February 11 is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 323 days remain until the end of the year (324 in leap years).

EVENTS

660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.

55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman Empire, on the eve of his coming of age clears the way for Nero to become Emperor.

1534 – At the Convocation of Canterbury, the Catholic bishops comprising the Upper House of the Province of Canterbury agree to style Henry VIII supreme head of the English church and clergy "so far as the law of Christ allows".

1794 – First session of United States Senate opens to the public.

1808 – Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal.[10]

1858 – Bernadette Soubirous's first vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary occurs in Lourdes, France.

1861 – American Civil War: The United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.

1946 – The New Testament of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, the first significant challenge to the Authorized King James Version, is published.

1953 – Cold War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower denies all appeals for clemency for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

1963 — The Beatles recorded their first album Please Please Me

1990 – Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner.

1990 – Buster Douglas, a 42:1 underdog, knocks out Mike Tyson in ten rounds at Tokyo to win boxing's world Heavyweight title.

1997 – Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

1999 – Pluto crosses Neptune's orbit, ending a nearly 20-year period when it was closer to the Sun than the gas giant; Pluto is not expected to interact with Neptune's orbit again until 2231.

2001 – A Dutch programmer launched the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennis star.

2013 – The Vatican confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI would resign the papacy as a result of his advanced age.

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

1535 – Pope Gregory XIV (d. 1591)

1800 – Henry Fox Talbot, English photographer and politician, invented the calotype (d. 1877)

1802 – Lydia Maria Child, American journalist, author, and activist (d. 1880)

1812 – Alexander H. Stephens, American lawyer and politician, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1883)

1847 – Thomas Edison, American engineer and businessman, developed the light bulb and phonograph (d. 1931)

1863 – John F. Fitzgerald, American politician; Mayor of Boston (d. 1950)

1909 – Max Baer, American boxer and actor (d. 1959)

1917 – Sidney Sheldon, American author and screenwriter (d. 2007)

1919 – Eva Gabor, Hungarian-American actress (d. 1995)

1920 – Farouk of Egypt (d. 1965) 

1926 – Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-American actor and producer (d. 2010)                                                  

1934 – Tina Louise, American actress and singer

1936 – Burt Reynolds, American actor and director (d. 2018)

1940 – Calvin Fowler, American basketball player (d. 2013)

1962 – Sheryl Crow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1964 – Sarah Palin, American politician, 9th Governor of Alaska

1969 – Jennifer Aniston, American actress and producer

1974 – D'Angelo, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1981 – Kelly Rowland, American singer and actress

DEATHS

731 – Pope Gregory II (b. 669)

824 – Pope Paschal I

1862 – Elizabeth Siddal, English poet and artist's model (b. 1829)

1948 – Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1898)

1976 – Lee J. Cobb, American actor (b. 1911)

1982 – Eleanor Powell, American actress and dancer (b. 1912)

1994 – Neil Bonnett, American race car driver (b. 1946)

1994 – Sorrell Booke, American actor and director (b. 1930)

1994 – William Conrad, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1920)

2006 – Peter Benchley, American author and screenwriter (b. 1940)

2012 – Whitney Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (b. 1963)

2015 – Bob Simon, American journalist (b. 1941)

2018 – Jan Maxwell, American stage and television actress (b. 1956)

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