February 11

February 11 in history:

• 1752, Directory:Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] Hospital, the first hospital in the United States, opens

• 1794, first session of United States Senate open to the public

• 1809, Robert Fulton patents the steamboat

• 1812, Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a redistricting law favoring his party --- giving rise to the term "gerrymandering"

• 1814, Norway's independence is proclaimed, marking the ultimate end of the Kalmar Union

• 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln departed Springfield, Illinois, for Washington

• 1929, 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, Lockheed P-38 flies from California to New York in 7 hours 2 minutes

• 1941, first Gold Record is presented to Glenn Miller for "Chattanooga Choo Choo"

• 1943, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower is selected to command the allied armies in Europe

• 1953, the Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel

• 1971, 87 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

• 1972, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company and Life magazine canceled plans to publish what turned out to be a fake autobiography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes

• 1979, Islamic revolution of Iran achieves victory under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

• 1986, Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky was released by the Soviet Union after nine years of captivity as part of an East-West prisoner exchange

• 1990, Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is freed from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa

• 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, marking the 28th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, vowed Iran would not give up uranium enrichment