Today is Saturday, Feb. 11, the 42nd day of 2012. There are 324 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight:
On Feb. 11, 1812, Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a re-districting law favoring his Democratic-Republican Party — giving rise to the term “gerrymandering.”
On this date:
In 1858, a French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, reported the first of 18 visions of a lady dressed in white in a grotto near Lourdes. (The Catholic Church later accepted that the visions were of the Virgin Mary.)
In 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln bade farewell to his adopted hometown of Springfield, Ill., as he headed to Washington for his inauguration.
In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Fort Donelson began in Tennessee. (Union forces led by Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant captured the fort five days later.)
In 1929, the Lateran Treaty was signed, with Italy recognizing the independence and sovereignty of Vatican City.
In 1937, a six-week-old sit-down strike against General Motors ended, with the company agreeing to recognize the United Automobile Workers Union.
In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement during World War II.
In 1960, “Tonight Show” host Jack Paar stunned his audience by walking off the program in a censorship dispute with NBC. (Despite his very public resignation, Paar returned to the Tonight Show less than a month later.)
In 1972, McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. and Life magazine canceled plans to publish what had turned out to be a fake autobiography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.
In 1975, Margaret Thatcher was elected leader of Britain’s opposition Conservative Party.
In 1979, followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran.
In 1982, actress-dancer Eleanor Powell, 69, died in Beverly Hills, Calif.
In 1990, South African black activist Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in captivity.
Associated Press
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