February 11 in History

2024 Finnish presidential election: Alexander Stubb is elected as the 13th president of Finland.

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

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

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

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

A university student is murdered as she resists an attempted rape in Turkey, sparking nationwide protests and public outcry against harassment and violence against women.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Beatles record their first album, Please Please Me.

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

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

Israeli-Soviet relations are severed.

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

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

BBC 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".

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

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

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

Friedrich Ebert (SPD) is elected President of Germany.

Pope Pius X publishes the encyclical Vehementer Nos.

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

The Meiji Constitution of Japan is adopted.

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

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

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

The Kingdom of Awadh is annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah, the king of Awadh, is deposed.

Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia.

Giuseppe Verdi's opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata receives its first performance in Milan, Italy.

Gaetano Donizetti's opera La fille du régiment receives its first performance in Paris, France.

University College London is founded as University of London.

Carnival tragedy of 1823: About 110 boys are killed during a human crush at the Convent of the Minori Osservanti in Valletta, Malta.

Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry is accused of "gerrymandering" for the first time.

Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal.

First session of United States Senate opens to the public.

The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses.

Sir Francis Drake with an English force captures and occupies the Spanish colonial port of Cartagena de Indias for two months, obtaining a ransom and booty.

A naval expedition led by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa founds Nombre de Jesús, the first of two short-lived Spanish settlements in the Strait of Magellan.

At the Convocation of Canterbury, the Catholic bishops comprising the Upper House of the Province of Canterbury agree to style Henry VIII supreme head of the English church and clergy "so far as the law of Christ allows".

Robert of Chester completes his translation from Arabic to Latin of the Liber de compositione alchemiae, marking the birth of Western alchemy.

Guo Wei, a court official, leads a military coup and declares himself emperor of the new Later Zhou.

The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman Empire, on the eve of his coming of age clears the way for Nero to become Emperor.

Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.

Liam Lawson, New Zealand racing driver

Bryan Gil, Spanish footballer

Nassir Little, American basketball player

Trent Frederic, American ice hockey player

Josh Jacobs, American football player

Khalid, American singer and songwriter

Damien Harris, American football player

Mike Hughes, American football player

Hubert Hurkacz, Polish tennis player

Rosé, New Zealand-South Korean singer and dancer

Zavier Simpson, American basketball player

Daniil Medvedev, Russian tennis player

Jonathan Tah, German footballer

Lucas Torreira, Uruguayan footballer

Milan Škriniar, Slovak footballer

Rick Karsdorp, Dutch footballer

Dansby Swanson, American baseball player

Ben McLemore, American basketball player

Lasse Norman Hansen, Danish track and road cyclist

Taylor Lautner, American actor

Jake Matthews, American football player

Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Canadian football player and medical doctor

Nikola Mirotic, Spanish basketball player

Javier Aquino, Mexican footballer

Q'orianka Kilcher, German-American actress

Hwang Chan-sung, South Korean singer and actor

Vlad Moldoveanu, Romanian basketball player

Luca Antonelli, Italian footballer

Juanmi Callejón, Spanish footballer

Brian Matusz, American baseball player (died 2025)

Jan Smeekens, Dutch speed skater

Ellen van Dijk, Dutch cyclist

Gabriel Boric, Chilean politician, 36th President of Chile

Mike Richards, Canadian ice hockey player

Šárka Strachová, Czech skier

Maarten Heisen, Dutch sprinter

Marco Marcato, Italian cyclist

Aubrey O'Day, American singer and reality television personality

Maxime Talbot, Canadian ice hockey player

Alando Tucker, American basketball player and coach

Rafael van der Vaart, Dutch footballer

Daryn Colledge, American football player

Natalie Dormer, English actress

Ľubomíra Kalinová, Slovak biathlete

Neil Robertson, Australian snooker player

Kelly Rowland, American singer and actress

Matthew Lawrence, American actor and singer

Brandy Norwood, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

Roc Marciano, American rapper and record producer

Mike Shinoda, American musician and artist

Tony Battie, American basketball player and sportscaster

Bryce Salvador, Canadian ice hockey player

Andy Lally, American race car driver

Callum Thorp, Australian cricketer

Jacque Vaughn, American basketball player and coach

Nick Barmby, English footballer and manager

D'Angelo, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2025)

Alex Jones, American radio show host and conspiracy theorist

Isaiah Mustafa, American actor and football player

Jaroslav Špaček, Czech ice hockey player and coach

Varg Vikernes, Norwegian guitarist and songwriter

Steve McManaman, English footballer

Kelly Slater, American surfer

Damian Lewis, English actor

Jennifer Aniston, American actress and producer

Andreas Hilfiker, Swiss footballer

John Salako, Nigerian-English footballer, manager, and sportscaster

Mo Willems, American author and illustrator

Ciro Ferrara, Italian footballer and manager

Vicki Wilson, Australian netball player

Sarah Palin, American politician, 9th Governor of Alaska

Ken Shamrock, American martial artist and wrestler

Tammy Baldwin, American lawyer and politician

Diane Franklin, American actress

Sheryl Crow, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Carey Lowell, American actress

Richard Mastracchio, American engineer and astronaut

Roberto Moreno, Brazilian race car driver

Tina Ambani, Indian actress and chairperson

Catherine Hickland, American actress

Didier Lockwood, French violinist (died 2018)

Wesley Strick, American director and screenwriter

Philip Anglim, American actor

Jeb Bush, American banker and politician, 43rd Governor of Florida

Tom Veryzer, American baseball player (died 2014)

Mike Leavitt, American politician, 14th Governor of Utah

James Silas, American basketball player

Yukio Hatoyama, Japanese engineer and politician and Prime Minister of Japan

Derek Shulman, Scottish singer-songwriter and producer

Ian Porterfield, Scottish footballer and manager (died 2007)

Michael Scott, first CEO of Apple Inc.

Mike Oxley, American lawyer and politician (died 2016)

Joy Williams, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist

Joselito, Spanish singer and actor

Alan Rubin, American trumpet player (died 2011)

Otis Clay, American singer-songwriter (died 2016)

Sérgio Mendes, Brazilian pianist and composer (died 2024)

Calvin Fowler, American basketball player (died 2013)

Gerry Goffin, American songwriter (died 2014)

Bevan Congdon, New Zealand cricketer (died 2018)

Ian Gow, British politician (died 1990)

Bill Lawry, Australian cricketer and sportscaster

Eddie Shack, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2020)

Phillip Walker, American singer and guitarist (died 2010)

Burt Reynolds, American actor and director (died 2018)

Gene Vincent, American singer and guitarist (died 1971)

Mel Carnahan, American lawyer and politician, 51st Governor of Missouri (died 2000)

Tina Louise, American actress and singer

Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and politician, Military leader of Panama (died 2017)

David Taylor, English veterinarian and television host (died 2013)

Dennis Skinner, English miner and politician

Roy De Forest, American painter and academic (died 2007).

Mary Quant, British fashion designer (died 2023)[notes 1]

Paul Bocuse, French chef (died 2018)

Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-American actor and producer (died 2010)

Virginia E. Johnson, American psychologist and academic (died 2013)

Kim Stanley, American actress (died 2001)

Budge Patty, American tennis player (died 2021)

Antony Flew, English philosopher and academic (died 2010)

Lloyd Bentsen, American politician, 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury (died 2006)

Ottavio Missoni, Italian hurdler and fashion designer, founded Missoni (died 2013)

Farouk of Egypt (died 1965)

Daniel F. Galouye, American author (died 1976)

Billy Halop, American actor (died 1976)

Daniel James, Jr., American general and pilot (died 1978)

Eva Gabor, Hungarian-American actress (died 1995)

Sidney Sheldon, American author and screenwriter (died 2007)

Patrick Leigh Fermor, English soldier, author, and scholar (died 2011)

Richard Hamming, American mathematician and academic (died 1998)

Matt Dennis, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2002)

Josh White, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1969)

Rudolf Firkušný, Czech-American pianist and educator (died 1994)

Max Baer, American boxer and actor (died 1959)

Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1993)

Philip Dunne, American screenwriter (died 1992)

Vivian Fuchs, English explorer (died 1999)

Keith Holyoake, New Zealand farmer and politician, 26th Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 1983)

Lucile Randon, French supercentenarian (died 2023)

Arne Jacobsen, Danish architect, designed Radisson Blu Royal Hotel (died 1971)

Ellen Broe, Danish nurse, pioneer in nursing education (died 1994)

Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher and scholar (died 2002)

Jōsei Toda, Japanese educator and activist (died 1958)

Leo Szilard, Hungarian-American physicist and academic (died 1964)

Emil Leon Post, Polish-American mathematician and logician (died 1954)

Claire Myers Owens, American author (died 1983)

John Warren Davis, American educator, college administrator, and civil rights leader (died 1980)

Carlo Carrà, Italian painter (died 1966)

Aasa Helgesen, Norwegian midwife (died 1968)

Elsa Beskow, Swedish author and illustrator (died 1953)

Helene Kröller-Müller, German-Dutch art collector and philanthropist, founded the Kröller-Müller Museum (died 1939)

Else Lasker-Schüler, German poet and author (died 1945)

Louis Bouveault, French chemist (died 1909)

John F. Fitzgerald, American politician; Mayor of Boston (died 1950)

Rachilde, French author and playwright (died 1953)

Ellen Day Hale, American painter and author (died 1940)

Thomas Edison, American engineer and businessman, developed the light bulb and phonograph (died 1931)

Ahmet Tevfik Pasha, Ottoman soldier and politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (died 1936)

Josiah Willard Gibbs, American physicist (died 1903)

Melville Fuller, American lawyer and jurist, 8th Chief Justice of the United States (died 1910)

Hans Bronsart von Schellendorff, Prussian pianist and composer (died 1913)

Auguste Mariette, French archaeologist and scholar (died 1881)

Otto Ludwig, German author, playwright, and critic (died 1865)

Alexander H. Stephens, American lawyer and politician, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (died 1883)

Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, Native American-French Canadian explorer (died 1866)

Lydia Maria Child, American journalist, author, and activist (died 1880)

Henry Fox Talbot, English photographer and politician, invented the calotype (died 1877)

Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greek politician, 1st Governor of Greece (died 1831)

Marie-Joseph Chénier, French poet and playwright (died 1811)

Egidio Duni, Italian composer (died 1775)

Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French poet and playwright (died 1757)

William Carstares, Scottish minister and academic (died 1715)

Ivan Ančić, Croatian Franciscan and religious writer (died 1685)

Honoré d'Urfé, French author and playwright (died 1625)

Pope Gregory XIV (died 1591)

Elizabeth of York, Queen Consort of England (died 1503)

Poggio Bracciolini, Italian scholar and translator (died 1459)

James Van Der Beek, American actor (born 1977)

Betsy Arakawa, American classical pianist (born 1959)

Moses Lim, Singaporean actor (born 1949)

Allen J. Bard, American chemist (born 1933)

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

Donald Spoto, American biographer (born 1941)

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

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

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

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

Fab Melo, Brazilian basketball player (born 1990)

Jaap Rijks, Dutch Olympian (born 1919)

Trish Doan, Korean-Canadian musician (born 1985)

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

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

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

Bob Simon, American journalist (born 1941)

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

Alice Babs, Swedish singer and actress (born 1924)

Tito Canepa, Dominican-American painter (born 1916)

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

Rick Huxley, English bass player (born 1940)

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

Aharon Davidi, Israeli general (born 1927)

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

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

Heward Grafftey, Canadian businessman and politician (born 1928)

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

Estelle Bennett, American singer (born 1941)

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

Tom Lantos, American lawyer and politician (born 1928)

Frank Piasecki, American engineer (born 1919)

Peter Benchley, American author and screenwriter (born 1940)

Ken Fletcher, Australian tennis player (born 1940)

Jackie Pallo, English wrestler and actor (born 1926)

Matilda, American chicken and stage magician, oldest known chicken (h. 1990)

Jack L. Chalker, American author (born 1944)

Tony Pope, American voice actor (born 1947)

Shirley Strickland, Australian runner (born 1925)

Frankie Crosetti, American baseball player and coach (born 1910)

Barry Foster, English actor (born 1931)

Lord Kitchner, Trinidadian singer (born 1922)

Roger Vadim, French director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1928)

Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet and author (born 1930)

Neil Bonnett, American race car driver (born 1946)

Sorrell Booke, American actor and director (born 1930)

William Conrad, American actor, director, and producer (born 1920)

Paul Feyerabend, Austrian-Swiss philosopher and academic (born 1924)

Robert W. Holley, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1922)

Dude Martin, American country singer, bandleader, radio and television host (born 1915)

George O'Hanlon, American actor and voice artist (born 1912)

Frank Herbert, American journalist and author (born 1920)

Evelio Javier, Filipino politician (born 1942)

Henry Hathaway, American actor, director, and producer (born 1898)

Eleanor Powell, American actress and dancer (born 1912)

James Bryant Conant, American chemist and academic (born 1893)

Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1904)

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indian lawyer and politician, 5th President of India (born 1905)

Louis Beel, Dutch academic and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (born 1902)

Lee J. Cobb, American actor (born 1911)

Alexander Lippisch, German pilot and engineer (born 1894)

Richard Ratsimandrava, Malagasy colonel and politician, President of Madagascar (born 1931)

J. Hans D. Jensen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1907)

Howard Lindsay, American playwright (born 1889)

A. J. Muste, Dutch-American minister and activist (born 1885)

John Olof Dahlgren, Swedish-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1872)

Sylvia Plath, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (born 1932)

Ernest Jones, Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst (born 1879)

Axel Munthe, Swedish doctor (born 1857)

Sergei Eisenstein, Russian director and screenwriter (born 1898)

Martin Klein, Estonian wrestler and coach (born 1884)

Jamnalal Bajaj, Indian businessman and philanthropist (born 1884)

John Buchan, Scottish-Canadian historian and politician, Governor General of Canada (born 1875)

Ellen Day Hale, American painter and author (born 1855)

Kalle Korhonen, Finnish politician (born 1878)

Charles Algernon Parsons, English-Irish engineer, invented the steam turbine (born 1854)

Alexey Kaledin, Russian general (born 1861)

Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian physician and epidemiologist (born 1872)

Mary Pitman Ailau, high chiefess of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi

Milan I of Serbia (born 1855)

Félix María Zuloaga, Mexican general and unconstitutional interim president (born 1813)

Léon Foucault, French physicist and academic (born 1819)

Elizabeth Siddal, English poet and artist's model (born 1829)

Magdalene Osenbroch, Norwegian actress (born 1830)

Alexander Griboyedov, Russian poet, playwright, and composer (born 1795)

Juan Sánchez Ramírez, leader of the troops that fought against the French rule of Santo Domingo's colony between 1808 and 1809 (born 1762)

Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet and composer (born 1740)

George Dance the Elder, English architect, designed St Leonard's and St Botolph's Aldgate (born 1695)

William Shenstone, English poet and gardener (born 1714)

Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, Italian archaeologist, playwright, and critic (born 1675)

René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (born 1596)

Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician and astronomer (born 1548)

Elizabeth of York, Queen Consort of England (born 1466)

Hugh of Saint Victor, German philosopher and theologian (born 1096)

Pope Paschal I

Pope Gregory II (born 669)

Heraclius, Byzantine emperor (born 575)

Gordian III, Roman emperor (born 225)

Britannicus, Roman son of Claudius (born 41)