On Feb. 11, 1990, South African activist Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in prison.
In 1812, Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a re-districting law favoring his party — giving rise to the term "gerrymandering."
In 1814, Norway proclaims independence from the Kalmar Union.
In 1858, a French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, reported the first of 18 visions of a lady dressed in white in a grotto near Lourdes. (The Catholic Church later accepted that the visions were of the Virgin Mary.)
In 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln departed Springfield, Ill. for Washington.
In 1929, the Lateran Treaty was signed, with Italy recognizing the independence and sovereignty of Vatican City.
In 1937, a six-week-old sit-down strike against General Motors ended, with the company agreeing to recognize the United Automobile Workers Union.
In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement during World War II.
In 1970, Japan put a satellite in space, following in the footsteps of the Soviet Union, the United States and France.
In 1972, McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. and Life magazine canceled plans to publish what turned out to be a fake autobiography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.
In 1975, Margaret Thatcher was elected leader of Britain's opposition Conservative Party.
In 1979, followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (hoh-MAY'-nee) seized power in Iran, nine days after the religious leader returned to his home country following 15 years of exile.
AP correspondent Tom Kent reports from TehranIn 1987, Corazon Aquino was sworn in for a six-year presidential term under the new Philippine constitution.
In 1989, Reverend Barbara C. Harris became the first woman consecrated as a bishop in the Episcopal Church, in a ceremony held in Boston.
In 1992, one police officer was killed and four people injured in a terrorist attack on the U.S. ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru.
In 1993, British Prime Minister John Major said Queen Elizabeth II will pay income tax on her personal income as well as being subject to capital and inheritance levies. President Bill Clinton announced his choice of Miami prosecutor Janet Reno to be the nation's first female attorney general.
In 1998, Olympic officials took away the gold medal of Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati after he tested positive for a minute amount of marijuana. He blamed second-hand smoke. An arbitration panel restored his medal two days later. Also in 1998, a U.S. judge ruled that pro golfer Casey Martin, who had trouble walking because of a circulatory disorder, was covered by the Disabilities Act and should be allowed to compete in PGA events with a golf cart.
In 1999, a federal jury in New York found several gun makers responsible in three area shootings for letting guns fall into the hands of criminals and assessed damages; gun makers were found liable in six other instances, but no monetary damages were awarded in those cases. (However, the plaintiffs suffered a setback in 2001 when the New York Court of Appeals invalidated such claims.)
In 2000, the space shuttle Endeavour thundered away from Cape Canaveral on a mission to map the world as never before. Britain stripped Northern Ireland's Protestant-Catholic government of power in a bid to prevent its collapse over the IRA's refusal to disarm.
In 2002, the Russian figure skating pair won the gold medal in the Winter Olympics over the overwhelming crowd favorite Canadian team but a judging controversy that grew into an international scandal prompted the International Skating Union to award a gold medal to the Canadians also. Israel attacked Palestinian security headquarters in Gaza City in response to unprecedented Palestinian rocket fire and a shooting attack on Israeli civilians.
In 2004, the U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens not to travel to Haiti and urged those already there and who could leave safely to do so. Also in 2004, two suicide bombings in and near Baghdad killed a reported 100 Iraqis. Wesley Clark dropped out of the race for the White House. A car bomb at an army recruiting center in Baghdad, Iraq, killed 47 people. Cable TV giant Comcast Corporation launched a hostile bid to buy The Walt Disney Company for more than $54 billion (Comcast later dropped its bid).
In 2005, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made an unannounced visit to Iraq, where he observed Iraqi security forces and declared "there's no question progress has been made" in preparing the nation for building a new government. CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan quit amid a furor over remarks he'd made about journalists being targeted by the U.S. military in Iraq. Samuel W. Alderson, inventor of crash test dummies, died in Marina Del Rey, Calif. at age 90.
In 2006, Dubai Ports World, a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates, struck a $6.8 billion deal to take over operations at six U.S. ports. (The deal was later blocked.) U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally sprayed Texas lawyer Harry Whittington with about 200 shotgun pellets while hunting for quail, hitting his friend in the face, neck and torso. Also in 2006, U.S. adventurer Steve Fossett broke the solo flight record when he landed near Bournemouth, England, covering 24,997 miles after taking off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida four days earlier.
In 2008, the Defense Department charged Khalid Sheikh Mohammed with murder and war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. Yahoo Inc. rejected Microsoft Corp.'s unsolicited takeover bid. Tom Lantos, a 14-term California congressman who was a forceful voice for human rights, died in Bethesda, Md., at age 80.
In 2009, the nation's top bankers went before the House Financial Services Committee, pledging to build public trust with greater lending and fewer perks. Stewart Parnell, owner of Peanut Corp. of America, repeatedly invoked his right not to incriminate himself at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on a salmonella outbreak that had sickened hundreds. All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about steroids in baseball. (He was sentenced to a year's probation.) Congressman John Dingell of Michigan became the longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives. President Robert Mugabe swore in longtime rival Morgan Tsvangirai as Zimbabwe's prime minister.
Today's Birthdays: Actor Leslie Nielsen is 84. Actor Conrad Janis is 82. Actress Tina Louise is 76.
Those Born On This Date Include: Englishman William Talbot, a developer of photography, (1800); inventor Thomas Edison (1847); boxer Max Baer and film director Joseph L. Mankiewicz (both 1909); author Sidney Sheldon (1917); actor Eva Gabor (1919); King Farouk, Egypt's last monarch (1920); actress Kim Stanley (1925).
Today In Entertainment February 11
Today's Highlight in History:
On Feb. 11, 1960, "Tonight Show" host Jack Paar stunned his audience by walking off the program in a dispute with NBC over its decision to censor an anecdote he'd quoted the night before having to do with a misunderstanding over the British term "W.C." (short for "water closet," or bathroom). Despite his very public resignation, Paar returned to the Tonight Show less than a month later. ADDED, 13 February 2010: See ME here for more.
In 1963, The Beatles recorded all of the tracks for their first album to be released in the U.K., "Please Please Me." John Lennon had a bad cold and belted out "Twist and Shout" in one take.
In 1964, The Beatles performed their first US concert, at the Coliseum in Washington. In the following days, the band performed in New York and in Florida, but the concerts were not considered part of an official tour.
In 1965, Ringo Starr married Maureen Cox in London. They divorced in 1975.
In 1970, the Ringo Starr-Peter Sellers film "The Magic Christian" premiered in New York. The film's soundtrack album included the Badfinger song "Come and Get It," which was written by Paul McCartney.
In 1972, David Bowie first performed as "Ziggy Stardust," at a show in Tollworth, England.
In 1983, The Rolling Stones tour documentary "Let's Spend The Night Together" opened in the US and Canada.
In 1986, Boy George guest-starred on an episode of "The A-Team" as a singer mistakenly booked into a country dance hall.
In 1987, in the wake of Liberace's death from AIDS, the London Daily Mirror asked if it could have back the $53,000 US libel award the entertainer won from the paper more than 30 years earlier. The tabloid had called Liberace a "fruit-flavoured, mincing, ice-covered heap of mother love" in 1956.
In 2000, French movie director Roger Vadim died in Paris at age 72.
In 2009, Estelle Bennett, 67, one of the singing trio The Ronettes, was found dead in her home in Englewood, N.J.
Thought for Today: "What we respect we always do, but what we do not respect we ignore." — Plato, Greek philsopher ( ? -c. 347 B.C.E.).
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