Highlights of this day in history: South Africa frees Nelson Mandela; Allied leaders in the last months of World War II sign the Yalta accords; Ayatollah Khomeini's followers seize power in Iran; inventor Thomas Edison born. (Feb. 11)
Birthdays:
- 1531 Henry VIII recognised as supreme head of Church in England following the schism with Rome
- 1858 First vision of the Virgin Mary to 14-year-old Bernadette of Lourdes, France
- 1929 Vatican City (world's smallest country) made an enclave of Rome
- 1975 Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for leadership of the British Conservative Party
- 1990 Nelson Mandela released after 27 years imprisonment in South Africa
- 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.
Birthdays:
- 1934 Tina Louise, American actress (Ginger-Gilligan's Island, Julie-Dallas), born in NYC, New York
- 1935 Gene Vincent, Norfolk Va, rock guitarist/vocalist (Be-Bop-A-Lula)
- 1936 Burt Reynolds, Mich, actor (Evening Shade, Strip Tease, Cannonball)
- 1938 Boris Majorov, USSR, ice hockey (Olympic-gold-1964)
- 1938 Bobby "Boris" Pickett, singer-songwriter (Monster Mash)
- 1938 Simone de Oliveira, Portuguese actress
- 1939 Bryan Gould, New Zealand and British politician (L), born in Hawera, New Zealand
- 1939 Gerry Goffin, American rock lyricist (married Carole King), born in Queens NY, (d. 2014)
- 1939 Jane [Hyatt] Yolen, US, sci-fi author (Spider Jane, Heart's Blood)
- 1941 Glenn Randall Jr, stuntman (Species, Mrs Soffel, Return of the Jedi)
- 1941 Sergio Mendes, jazz/pop musician (Brazil '66/'77/'88)
- 1942 Archie Andrews, comic book character (Archie)
- 1954 Wesley Strick, American screenwriter
- 1956 Kathleen Beller, actress (Ft Apache the Bronx, Touched), born in Queens, New York
- 1956 H.R. [Paul D. Hudson], singer (Bad Brains), born in London, England
- 1962 Tammy Baldwin, American politician
- 1964 Ken Shamrock, American martial artist
- 1964 Sarah Palin, American politician
- 1965 Angie Ridgeway, Wabash IN, LPGA golfer (1992 Sara Lee-8th)
- 1965 Vicki Wilson, Australian netballer
- 1966 Alexander Semak, Ufa Russia, NHL center (NY Islanders)
- 1966 Anthony Parker, NFL cornerback (Minnesota Vikings, St Louis Rams, TB Bucs)
- 1967 John Patterson, US baseball infielder (SF Giants)
- 1969 Shannon Long, Gladstone Australia, playmate (Oct, 1988)
- 1970 Alistair Brown, cricketer (Surrey & England ODI opening batsman 1996)
- 1971 Linda Wild, Arlington Heights Ill, tennis star (1993 Melbourne Open)
- 1971 Damian Lewis, British actor
- 1972 Dennis Iliohan, Dutch soccer player (FC Lisse, ADO Den Haag)
- 1972 Steve Mcmanaman, English footballer
- 1972 Kelly Slater, American surfer
- 1973 Tom Tumulty, linebacker (Cincinnati Bengals)
- 1975 Kim Weir, Miss USA-Nebraska (1997)
- 1976 Brice Beckham, actor (Wesley-Mr Belvedare), born in Long Beach, California
- 1976 Tony Battie, NBA forward (Denver Nuggets)
- 1979 Brandy [Norwood], singer (Les Miserables, Moisha)
- 1980 Matthew Lawrence, Montgomery Pa, actor (Matthew-Gimme a Break)
- 1980 Natasha Bobo, actress (Sally in Together We Stand), born in Watsonville, California
- 1980 Titi Buengo, Angolan footballer
- 1980 Cormac McAnallen, Northern Irish Gaelic footballer (d. 2004)
- 1980 Marco Bresciano, Australian soccer player
- 1981 Kelly Rowland, American singe
- 1984 Aubrey O'Day, American singer
- 1985 Mike Richards, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 William Beckett, lead singer of the American rock band The Academy Is...
- 1990 Princess Ayah of Jordan
- 1990 Q'orianka Kilcher, actress and activist (The New World)
- 1992 Taylor Lautner, American actor
- 1992 Blair Dunlop, English actor
- 1994 Dominic Janes, American actor.
Deaths:
- 1994 William Conrad, actor (Cannon), dies of a heart attack at 73
- 1996 Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet, commits suicide at 65
- 1996 Bob Shaw, Irish science fiction writer, dies of cancer at 64
- 1996 Cyril Poole, cricket (Notts 1946-62, England 1951-52 in 3 Tests), dies
- 1996 Kebby Musokotwane, prime minister of Zambia in (1985-89), dies
- 1996 Phil Regan, actor (Las Vegas Night, Dames, Housewife), dies at 88
- 1997 Don Porter, actor (Gidget), dies at 84
- 2006 Jackie Pallo, wrestler (b. 1926)
- 2007 Marianne Fredriksson, Swedish author (b. 1927)
- 2008 Tom Lantos, member of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1928)
- 2008 Frank Piasecki, American aeronautical designer (b. 1919)
- 2009 Estelle Bennett, American singer (Ronettes), dies at 67
- 2009 Willem J Kolff, Dutch-American Physician and Biomedical Engineer (artificial kidney, hemodialysis), dies at 97
- 2010 [Lee} Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, commits suicide at 40
- 2011 Tom Carnegie, American sports announcer (b. 1919)
- 2011 Chuck Tanner, American Baseball player (b. 1928)
- 2013 Rick Huxley, English guitarist, dies at 72
YouTube upload / AP video / Henry Frederick, Headline Surfer