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This day in history

This day in history: 11 February

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Born on this day · Died on this day176 · 100

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Key facts

334 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 11 February.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2024: 2024 Finnish presidential election: Alexander Stubb is elected as the 13th president of Finland.

Holidays and observances

Armed Forces Day (Liberia)

Christian feast day: Blaise Eastern Orthodox liturgics

Christian feast day: Cædmon, first recorded Christian poet in England, c. 680 CE (Anglicanism)

Christian feast day: February 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Gobnait

Christian feast day: Gregory II

Christian feast day: Lazarus of Milan

Christian feast day: Peter of Jesus Maldonado

Christian feast day: Soteris

European 112 Day (European Union)

Evelio Javier Day (Panay Island, the Philippines)

Feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes (Catholic Church), and its related observance World Day of the Sick (Roman Catholic Church)

Events

20242024 Finnish presidential election: Alexander Stubb is elected as the 13th president of Finland.

2020COVID-19 pandemic: The World Health Organization officially names the coronavirus outbreak as COVID-19, with the virus being designated SARS-CoV-2.

2018Saratov Airlines Flight 703 crashes near Moscow, Russia with 71 deaths and no survivors.

2017North Korea test fires a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan.

2016A man shoots seven people dead at an education center in Jizan Province, Saudi Arabia.

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.

2015The European Space Agency's Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle is launched on a Vega rocket.

2014A military transport plane crashes in a mountainous area of Oum El Bouaghi Province in eastern Algeria, killing 77 people.

2013Militants claiming to be from the Sultanate of Sulu invade Lahad Datu District, Sabah, Malaysia, beginning the Lahad Datu standoff.

2013The Vatican confirms that Pope Benedict XVI will resign the papacy as a result of his advanced age.

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.

2008Rebel East Timorese soldiers seriously wound President José Ramos-Horta. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado is killed in the attack.

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

2000Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-99 to conduct the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.

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.

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

1997The far-right extremist Hungarian National Front introduces the day of honor, a neo-nazi and neo-fascist annual gathering in Budapest

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

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

1979The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

1978Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314 crashes at the Cranbrook/Canadian Rockies International Airport in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada with 42 deaths and seven survivors.

1971Cold War: The Seabed Arms Control Treaty opens for signature, outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in international waters.

1970Japan launches Ohsumi, becoming the fourth nation to put an object into orbit using its own booster.

1963The Beatles record their first album, Please Please Me.

1959The Federation of Arab Emirates of the South is created as a protectorate of the United Kingdom.

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

1953Israeli-Soviet relations are severed.

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

1942World War II: Second day of the Battle of Bukit Timah is fought in Singapore.

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".

1937The Flint sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers trade union.

1933LAPD Red Squad raid on John Reed Club art show in the U.S. results in the destruction of a dozen political artworks.

1929The Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty.

1919Friedrich Ebert (SPD) is elected President of Germany.

1906Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer Nos.

1903Anton Bruckner's 9th Symphony receives its first performance in Vienna, Austria.

1889The Meiji Constitution of Japan is adopted.

1873King Amadeo I of Spain abdicates, triggering the proclamation of the First Spanish Republic.

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

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

Born on this day

2002Liam Lawson, New Zealand racing driver

2001Bryan Gil, Spanish footballer

2000Nassir Little, American basketball player

1998Josh Jacobs, American football player

1998Khalid, American singer and songwriter

1998Trent Frederic, American ice hockey player

1997Damien Harris, American football player

1997Hubert Hurkacz, Polish tennis player

1997Mike Hughes, American football player

1997Rosé, New Zealand-South Korean singer and dancer

1997Zavier Simpson, American basketball player

1996Daniil Medvedev, Russian tennis player

1996Jonathan Tah, German footballer

1996Lucas Torreira, Uruguayan footballer

1995Milan Škriniar, Slovak footballer

1995Rick Karsdorp, Dutch footballer

1994Dansby Swanson, American baseball player

1993Ben McLemore, American basketball player

1992Jake Matthews, American football player

1992Lasse Norman Hansen, Danish track and road cyclist

1992Taylor Lautner, American actor

1991Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Canadian football player and medical doctor

1991Nikola Mirotic, Spanish basketball player

1990Hwang Chan-sung, South Korean singer and actor

1990Javier Aquino, Mexican footballer

1990Q'orianka Kilcher, German-American actress

1988Vlad Moldoveanu, Romanian basketball player

1987Brian Matusz, American baseball player (died 2025)

1987Ellen van Dijk, Dutch cyclist

1987Jan Smeekens, Dutch speed skater

1987Juanmi Callejón, Spanish footballer

1987Luca Antonelli, Italian footballer

1986Gabriel Boric, Chilean politician, 36th President of Chile

1985Mike Richards, Canadian ice hockey player

1985Šárka Strachová, Czech skier

1984Alando Tucker, American basketball player and coach

1984Aubrey O'Day, American singer and reality television personality

1984Maarten Heisen, Dutch sprinter

1984Marco Marcato, Italian cyclist

1984Maxime Talbot, Canadian ice hockey player

Died on this day

2026James Van Der Beek, American actor (born 1977)

2025Betsy Arakawa, American classical pianist (born 1959)

2025Moses Lim, Singaporean actor (born 1949)

2024Allen J. Bard, American chemist (born 1933)

2024Kelvin Kiptum, African long-distance runner(born 1999)

2023Donald Spoto, American biographer (born 1941)

2018Asma Jahangir, Pakistani human-rights lawyer and social activist (born 1952)

2018Jan Maxwell, American stage and television actress (born 1956)

2018Qazi Wajid, Pakistani drama actor, writer and artist (born 1930)

2018Vic Damone, American singer, songwriter and actor (born 1928)

2017Fab Melo, Brazilian basketball player (born 1990)

2017Jaap Rijks, Dutch Olympian (born 1919)

2017Trish Doan, Korean-Canadian musician (born 1985)

2016Kevin Randleman, American mixed martial artist and wrestler (born 1971)

2016Zeng Xuelin, Thai-Chinese footballer and manager (born 1929)

2015Bob Simon, American journalist (born 1941)

2015Jerry Tarkanian, American basketball player and coach (born 1930)

2015Roger Hanin, French actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1925)

2014Alice Babs, Swedish singer and actress (born 1924)

2014Fernando González Pacheco, Colombian journalist and actor (born 1932)

2014Tito Canepa, Dominican-American painter (born 1916)

2013Rick Huxley, English bass player (born 1940)

2012Aharon Davidi, Israeli general (born 1927)

2012Siri Bjerke, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of the Environment (born 1958)

2012Whitney Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (born 1963)

2011Chuck Tanner, American baseball player and manager (born 1928)

2010Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, founder of his eponymous brand (born 1969)

2010Heward Grafftey, Canadian businessman and politician (born 1928)

2009Estelle Bennett, American singer (born 1941)

2009Willem Johan Kolff, Dutch-American physician and academic (born 1911)

Quote of the day

“Silence is a source of great strength.”

Lao Tzu

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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