Today is Thursday, Feb. 11, the 42nd day of 2010. There are 323 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On Feb. 11, 1960, “Tonight Show” host Jack Paar stunned his audience by walking off the program in a dispute with NBC over its decision to censor an anecdote he’d quoted the night before having to do with a misunderstanding over the British term “W.C.” (short for “water closet,” or bathroom). Despite his very public resignation, Paar returned to the Tonight Show less than a month later.
ON THIS DATE
In 1812, Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a re-districting law favoring his party — giving rise to the term “gerrymandering.”
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 departed Springfield, Ill. for Washington.
In 1979, followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran.
Associated Press
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