February 11Birthdays & History

On this day: February 11 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 660 BCTraditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.Asia
2. 55The 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.Europe
3. 951Guo Wei, a court official, leads a military coup and declares himself emperor of the new Later Zhou.Asia
4. 1144Robert of Chester completes his translation from Arabic to Latin of the Liber de compositione alchemiae, marking the birth of Western alchemy.Europe
5. 1534At 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".Europe
6. 1584A 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.Europe
7. 1586Sir 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.Europe
8. 1659The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses.Europe
9. 1794First session of United States Senate opens to the public.North America
10. 1808Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal.North America
11. 1812Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry is accused of "gerrymandering" for the first time.North America
12. 1823Carnival tragedy of 1823: About 110 boys are killed during a human crush at the Convent of the Minori Osservanti in Valletta, Malta.Europe
13. 1826University College London is founded as University of London.Europe
14. 1829Facing backlach of Treaty of Turkmenchay, Alexander Griboyedov, Russian Empire's Ambassador to Tehran, and all the other embassy staff, were massacred by an angry mob.EuropeMiddle East
15. 1840Gaetano Donizetti's opera La fille du régiment receives its first performance in Paris, France.Europe
16. 1843Giuseppe Verdi's opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata receives its first performance in Milan, Italy.Europe
17. 1855Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia.Africa
18. 1856The Kingdom of Awadh is annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah, the king of Awadh, is deposed.EuropeAsia
19. 1858Bernadette Soubirous's first vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary occurs in Lourdes, France.Europe
20. 1861American Civil War: The United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.North America
21. 1873King Amadeo I of Spain abdicates, triggering the proclamation of the First Spanish Republic.Europe
22. 1889The Meiji Constitution of Japan is adopted.Asia
23. 1903Anton Bruckner's 9th Symphony receives its first performance in Vienna, Austria.Europe
24. 1906Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer Nos.Europe
25. 1919Friedrich Ebert (SPD) is elected President of Germany.Europe
26. 1929The Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty.Europe
27. 1933LAPD Red Squad raid on John Reed Club art show in the U.S. results in the destruction of a dozen political artworks.North America
28. 1937The Flint sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers trade union.North America
29. 1938BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television programme, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R. that coined the term "robot".Europe
30. 1942World War II: Second day of the Battle of Bukit Timah is fought in Singapore.Asia
31. 1946The New Testament of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, the first significant challenge to the Authorized King James Version, is published.North America
32. 1953Israeli-Soviet relations are severed.Middle EastEurope
33. 1953Cold War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower denies all appeals for clemency for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.North America
34. 1959The Federation of Arab Emirates of the South is created as a protectorate of the United Kingdom.Middle EastEurope
35. 1963The Beatles record their first album, Please Please Me.Europe
36. 1970Japan launches Ohsumi, becoming the fourth nation to put an object into orbit using its own booster.Asia
37. 1971Cold War: The Seabed Arms Control Treaty opens for signature, outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in international waters.World
38. 1978Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314 crashes at the Cranbrook/Canadian Rockies International Airport in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada with 42 deaths and seven survivors.North AmericaEurope
39. 1979The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.Middle East
40. 1990Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner.Africa
41. 1990Buster Douglas, a 42:1 underdog, knocks out Mike Tyson in ten rounds at Tokyo to win boxing's world Heavyweight title.Asia
42. 1997Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.North America
43. 1997The far-right extremist Hungarian National Front introduces the day of honor, a neo-nazi and neo-fascist annual gathering in BudapestEurope
44. 1999Pluto 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.World
45. 2000Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-99 to conduct the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.North America
46. 2001A Dutch programmer launches the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennis star.Europe
47. 2008Rebel East Timorese soldiers seriously wound President José Ramos-Horta. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado is killed in the attack.Asia
48. 2011Arab Spring: 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 17 days of protests.Middle East
49. 2013Militants claiming to be from the Sultanate of Sulu invade Lahad Datu District, Sabah, Malaysia, beginning the Lahad Datu standoff.Asia
50. 2013The Vatican confirms that Pope Benedict XVI will resign the papacy as a result of his advanced age.Europe
51. 2014A military transport plane crashes in a mountainous area of Oum El Bouaghi Province in eastern Algeria, killing 77 people.Africa
52. 2015The European Space Agency's Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle is launched on a Vega rocket.Europe
53. 2015A university student is murdered as she resists an attempted rape in Turkey, sparking nationwide protests and public outcry against harassment and violence against women.Middle East
54. 2016A man shoots seven people dead at an education center in Jizan Province, Saudi Arabia.Middle East
55. 2017North Korea test fires a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan.AsiaAsia
56. 2018Saratov Airlines Flight 703 crashes near Moscow, Russia with 71 deaths and no survivors.Europe
57. 2020COVID-19 pandemic: The World Health Organization officially names the coronavirus outbreak as COVID-19, with the virus being designated SARS-CoV-2.World
58. 20242024 Finnish presidential election: Alexander Stubb is elected as the 13th president of Finland.Europe

Source: Wikipedia "February 11" / CC BY-SA 4.0