On this day: February 11

Events on February 11

• 1584 Spanish explorer Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa founded the town of Nombre de Jesús, the first of two short-lived colonies at the Strait of Magellan. Wikipedia
• 1794 First session of United States Senate opens to the public. Wikipedia
• 1808 Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal. Wikipedia
• 1823 Around 110 boys were killed in a human crush at the Convent of the Minori Osservanti in Valletta on the last day of the Maltese Carnival. Wikipedia
• 1826 London University, later University College London, was founded as the first secular university in England. Wikipedia
• 1840 La fille du régiment, an opéra comique by Gaetano Donizetti, premiered in Paris to highly negative reviews but later became a success. Wikipedia
• 1851 As part of celebrations marking the separation of Victoria from New South Wales, the inaugural first-class cricket match in Australia began at the Launceston Racecourse in Tasmania. Wikipedia
• 1861 American Civil War: The United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state. Wikipedia
• 1873 King Amadeo I of Spain abdicates, triggering the proclamation of the First Spanish Republic. Wikipedia
• 1919 Friedrich Ebert was elected the provisional president of Germany by the Weimar National Assembly. Wikipedia
• 1929 The Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican sign the Lateran Treaty. Wikipedia
• 1938 The BBC aired an adaptation of a section of Czech writer Karel Čapek's play R.U.R. in the first broadcast of science fiction on television. Wikipedia
• 1953 Cold War: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower denies all appeals for clemency for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Wikipedia
• 1963 The Beatles record their first album, Please Please Me. Wikipedia
• 1976 The Frente de Liberación Homosexual made their final public appearance, shortly before the group's dissolution due to political repression after the Argentine coup d'état. Wikipedia
• 1979 The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Wikipedia
• 1990 Anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, having been a political prisoner for 27 years, was released from Victor Verster Prison near Paarl, South Africa. Wikipedia
• 1999 Pluto 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. Wikipedia
• 2001 The computer worm Anna Kournikova, which would affect millions of users worldwide, was released by a 20-year-old Dutch student. Wikipedia
• 2008 Rebel East Timorese soldiers invaded the homes of President José Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, seriously wounding the former. Wikipedia
• 2011 Arab 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. Wikipedia
• 2013 The Vatican confirms that Pope Benedict XVI will resign the papacy as a result of his advanced age. Wikipedia
• 2015 Turkish student Özgecan Aslan was murdered during a rape attempt, sparking mass demonstrations across the country after her body was discovered two days later. Wikipedia
• 2018 Saratov Airlines Flight 703 crashed shortly after take-off in Russia due to icing conditions, killing all 71 people on board. Wikipedia
• 2020 COVID-19 pandemic: The World Health Organization officially names the coronavirus outbreak as COVID-19, with the virus being designated SARS-CoV-2. Wikipedia
• 2024 2024 Finnish presidential election: Alexander Stubb is elected as the 13th president of Finland. Wikipedia

Born on February 11

• 1535 Pope Gregory XIV (died 1591) Wikipedia
• 1657 Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French poet and playwright (died 1757) Wikipedia
• 1839 Josiah Willard Gibbs, American physicist (died 1903) Wikipedia
• 1847 Thomas Edison, American engineer and businessman, developed the light bulb and phonograph (died 1931) Wikipedia
• 1898 Leo Szilard, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (died 1964) Wikipedia
• 1900 Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher and scholar (died 2002) Wikipedia
• 1909 Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1993) Wikipedia
• 1917 Sidney Sheldon, American author and screenwriter (died 2007) Wikipedia
• 1920 Farouk of Egypt (died 1965) Wikipedia
• 1926 Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-American actor and producer (died 2010) Wikipedia
• 1934 Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and politician, Military leader of Panama (died 2017) Wikipedia
• 1936 Burt Reynolds, American actor and director (died 2018) Wikipedia
• 1947 Yukio Hatoyama, Japanese engineer and politician and Prime Minister of Japan Wikipedia
• 1962 Sheryl Crow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Wikipedia
• 1964 Sarah Palin, American politician, 9th Governor of Alaska Wikipedia
• 1969 Jennifer Aniston, American actress and producer Wikipedia
• 1973 Varg Vikernes, Norwegian guitarist and songwriter Wikipedia
• 1977 Mike Shinoda, American musician and artist Wikipedia
• 1983 Rafael van der Vaart, Dutch footballer Wikipedia
• 1986 Gabriel Boric, Chilean politician, 36th President of Chile Wikipedia
• 1992 Taylor Lautner, American actor Wikipedia
• 1997 Rosé, New Zealand-South Korean singer and dancer Wikipedia

Died on February 11

• 55 Britannicus, Roman son of Claudius (born 41) Wikipedia
• 244 Gordian III, Roman emperor (born 225) Wikipedia
• 641 Heraclius, Byzantine emperor (born 575) Wikipedia
• 731 Pope Gregory II (born 669) Wikipedia
• 824 Pope Paschal I Wikipedia
• 1650 René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (born 1596) Wikipedia
• 1868 Léon Foucault, French physicist and academic (born 1819) Wikipedia
• 1948 Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director and screenwriter (born 1898) Wikipedia
• 1963 Sylvia Plath, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (born 1932) Wikipedia
• 1973 J. Hans D. Jensen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1907) Wikipedia
• 1977 Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indian lawyer and politician, 5th President of India (born 1905) Wikipedia
• 1978 Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1904) Wikipedia
• 1986 Frank Herbert, American journalist and author (born 1920) Wikipedia
• 2012 Whitney Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (born 1963) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Blaise Eastern Orthodox liturgics Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Cædmon, first recorded Christian poet in England, c. 680 CE (Anglicanism) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Gobnait Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Gregory II Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Lazarus of Milan Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Peter of Jesus Maldonado Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Soteris Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: February 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• European 112 Day (European Union) Wikipedia
• Armed Forces Day (Liberia) Wikipedia
• Evelio Javier Day (Panay Island, the Philippines) Wikipedia
• Feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes (Catholic Church), and its related observance World Day of the Sick (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Inventors' Day (United States) Wikipedia
• National Foundation Day (Japan) Wikipedia
• Youth Day (Cameroon) Wikipedia
• International Day of Women and Girls in Science (UN Women) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “February 11” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/February 11” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “February 11” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for February 11 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.