TODAY HISTORY LESSON: FEBRUARY 11
0660 Traditional founding of Japan by Emperor Jimmu Tenno.
1531 Henry VIII is recognized as the supreme head of the Church of England.
1573 1st European, Francis Drake sees the Pacific (from Panamá)
1752 The Pennsylvania Hospital opened as the very first hospital in America.
1805 Lewis and Clark’s Shoshone guide Sacajawea gave birth to a son, Jean Baptiste.
1809 Robert Fulton patents the steamboat.
1812 Massachusetts Governor Gerry signs a redistricting bill-the 1st “gerrymander”
1815 News of the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812, finally reaches the United States.
1858 Bernadette Soubirous sees a vision of the Virgin Mary near Lourdes. The small town in southern France became one of the most important Christian places of pilgrimage.
1861 US House unanimously passes resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state
1903 Congress passes the Expedition Act, giving antitrust cases priority in the courts.
1926 The Mexican government nationalizes all church property.
1929 Lateran Treaty was signed, with Italy recognizing the independence and sovereignty of Vatican City.
1936 The Reich arrests 150 Catholic youth leaders in Berlin.
1938 The BBC broadcasts Karel Čapek’s “R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots)”, the world’s first science fiction TV program
1951 U.N. forces push north across the 38th parallel for the second time in the Korean War.
1953 Walt Disney’s film Peter Pan premieres.
1959 Iran turns down Soviet aid in favor of a U.S. proposal for aid.
1965 President Lyndon Johnson orders air strikes against targets in North Vietnam, in retaliation for guerrilla attacks on the American military in South Vietnam.
1968 Madison Square Garden III closes Madison Square Garden IV opens (New York NY)
1974 Communist-led rebels shower artillery fire into a crowded area of Phnom Pehn, killing 139 and injuring 46 others.
1975 Mrs. Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman to lead the British Conservative Party.
1979 Ayatollah Khomeini seizes power in Iran. Few days after Khomeini’s triumphant return from French exile, the Iranian army steps aside, making way for the creation of an Islamic theocracy.
1988 Anthony M Kennedy appointed to the Supreme Court
1989 The Episcopal Church Boston diocese consecrated Barbara Harris as the church’s first woman bishop.
2000 Great Britain suspended self-rule in Northern Ireland after the Irish Republican Army (IRA) failed to begin decommissioning (disarming) by a February deadline.
2006 In Texas, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a quail hunt.
2011 Egyptian Revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 18 days of protests (Arab Spring)
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
