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On This Day: February 11
UpdatedFebruary 11, 2014,11:53 am
On Feb. 11, 1945, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement during World War II.
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On Feb. 11, 1847, Thomas Alva Edison, the prolific inventor whose more than 1,000 patents included the light bulb and the gramophone, was born. Following his death on Oct. 18, 1931, his obituary appeared in The Times.
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On This Date
By The Associated Press
| 1847 | Inventor Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. |
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| 1858 | A French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary near Lourdes. |
| 1929 | Italy recognized the independence and sovereignty of Vatican City. |
| 1937 | A sit-down strike against General Motors ended with the company agreeing to recognize the United Automobile Workers Union. |
| 1945 | President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin wrapped up a conference at Yalta in the Crimea by signing a series of agreements on the governance of post-World War II Europe. |
| 1963 | American author and poet Sylvia Plath was found dead in London, a suicide; she was 30. |
| 1975 | Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to head a major party in Britain when she was elected leader of opposition Conservative Party. |
| 1979 | Followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran, nine days after the religious leader returned to his home country following 15 years of exile. |
| 1990 | South African black activist Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in captivity. |
| 2008 | The Defense Department charged Khalid Sheikh Mohammed with murder and war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. |
| 2009 | Democrat John Dingell of Michigan became the longest-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives with more than 53 years of service. |
| 2009 | President Robert Mugabe swore in longtime rival Morgan Tsvangirai as Zimbabwe's prime minister. |
| 2012 | Singer Whitney Houston was found dead in a hotel room in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 48. (Her death was later ruled an accidental drowning, with heart disease and cocaine use as contributing factors.) |
Historic Birthdays
Thomas Alva Edison2/11/1847 - 10/18/1931American inventor holding 1,093 patents.Go to obituary »| 99 | Bernard Le Bovier Fontenelle 2/11/1657 - 1/9/1757 French scientist and man of letters |
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| 73 | Hans Jarta 2/11/1774 - 4/6/1847 Swedish political activist/administrator/publicist |
| 77 | William Henry Fox Talbot 2/11/1800 - 9/17/1877 English chemist/pioneer photographer |
| 52 | Otto Ludwig 2/11/1813 - 2/25/1865 German novelist/playwright/critic |
| 44 | Thomas, Jr. Hitchcock 2/11/1900 - 4/19/1944 American polo player |
| 69 | Arne Jacobsen 2/11/1902 - 3/24/1971 Danish architect/designer |
| 50 | Max Baer 2/11/1909 - 11/21/1959 American boxer |
| 45 | Farouk I 2/11/1920 - 3/18/1965 King of Egypt,1936-1952 |
| 76 | Eva Gabor 2/11/1919 - 7/4/1995 Hungarian actress/pianist |
