Today is Tuesday 11 February, the 42nd day of 2020. 324 days a year are missing.
Today’s highlight in history:
On February 11, 1979, followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran.
In this date:
In 1531, the Church of England reluctantly accepted King Henry VIII as supreme head.
In 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln said goodbye to his adopted hometown of Springfield, Illinois as he headed to Washington for his inauguration.
In 1937 a six-week strike ended against General Motors, with the company agreeing to recognize the United Automobile Workers Union.
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In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta agreement, in which Stalin agreed to declare war on imperial Japan following the capitulation of Nazi Germany.
In 1968, the fourth and current Madison Square Garden in New York City, located on the West Side of Manhattan on the site of what was once the Pennsylvania Station building, opened with a “Health for Use” hosted by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby . (The same evening, the New York Rangers played their last game in third Garden, tying the Detroit Red Wings 3-3.)
In 1975 Margaret Thatcher was elected leader of the British opposition conservative party.
In 1990, South African black activist Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in captivity.
In 2008, the Pentagon accused Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and five other inmates in Guantanamo Bay of murders and war crimes in connection with the September 11 attacks.
In 2011, Egypt exploded with joy after democratic demonstrators shot down President Hosni Mubarak, whose resignation ended three decades of authoritarian rule.
In 2012, pop singer Whitney Houston, 48, was found dead in the tub of a hotel room in Beverly Hills, California.
In 2013, with a few words in Latin, Pope Benedict XVI did what no pope had done in more than half a millennium: he announced his resignation. The bomb arrived during a routine morning meeting of the Vatican cardinals. (The 85-year-old pontiff was replaced by Pope Francis.)
In 2009, the All-Star short film Miguel Tejada pleaded guilty to lying to Congress on steroids in baseball. (He was sentenced to one year on probation.) Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., Who first went to Congress in 1955, became the longest serving member of the United States House of Representatives.
Ten years ago: former President Bill Clinton had inserted two stents into one of his heart arteries after being hospitalized in New York with chest pain. Iranian security forces unleashed an overwhelming blow against opposition protesters while President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution to challenge the West. British designer Alexander McQueen, 40, was found dead in his London home.
Five years ago: swearing that Islamic State forces “were about to lose”, President Barack Obama urged Congress to authorize military action, excluding large-scale US combat operations reminiscent of Iraq and Afghanistan. Little League International deprived Jackie Robinson West of the national title after an investigation revealed that it had falsified the boundaries to field unsuitable players; Mountain Ridge Little League was awarded the title. Longtime CBS News correspondent Bob Simon, 73, was killed in a car accident in New York. Hall of Fame basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, 84, died in Las Vegas.
A year ago: Congress negotiators reached an agreement to prevent a government shutdown and finance the construction of new barriers along the border between the United States and Mexico. Freshman Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota apologized for tweets suggesting that members of Congress support Israel because they get paid for it; the tweets had brought bipartisan criticism. Robert Bowers, accused of killing 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue, has pleaded not guilty to hating crimes and dozens of other counts. The Denver teachers began to strike for the first time in 25 years following failed negotiations with the school district on basic pay; schools remained open with administrators and substitute teachers in the classrooms. As baseball’s Oakland Athletics began spring training, the choice of the first round Kyler Murray announced that he would pursue a career in the NFL rather than in baseball; Murray had won the college football Heisman Trophy in Oklahoma.
Today’s birthdays: actor Conrad Janis is 92 years old. Gospel singer Jimmy Carter is 88 years old. Stylist Mary Quant is 86 years old. Actress Tina Louise is 82 years old. Band leader Sergio Mendes is 79 years old. Philip Anglim is 68 years old. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush is 67 years old. Actress Catherine Hickland is 64 years old. Rock musician David Uosikkinen (The Hooters) is 64 years old. Actress Carey Lowell is 59 years old. Singer Sheryl Crow is 58 years old. The former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is 56 years old. Actress Jennifer Aniston is 51 years old. Damian Lewis is 49. The actress Marisa Petroro is 48 years old. The singer D’Angelo is 46 years old. Actor Brice Beckham is 44 years old. Rock singer / singer Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park) is 43 years old. Singer-actress Brandy is 41 years old. Country musician Jon Jones (The Eli Young Band) is 40. Actor Matthew Lawrence is 40 years old. Rhythmic and blues singer Kelly Rowland is 39 years old. Actress Natalie Dormer is 38 years old. Aubrey O’Day is 36. The actress Q’orianka Kilcher is 30 years old. Actor Taylor Lautner is 28 years old.
Designed for today: “We would do better to live as we think, otherwise we will end up thinking how we lived”. – Paul Bourget, French author (1852-1935).
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