1573 Feb 11, Sir Francis Drake 1st saw the Pacific Ocean from Panama.
1752 Feb 11, Pennsylvania Hospital, the 1st hospital in the US, opened.
1766 Feb 11, The Stamp Act was declared unconstitutional in Virginia.
1768 Feb 11, A Samuel Adams letter, opposing Townshend Act taxes, was circulated among the American colonies.
1794 Feb 11, A session of US Senate was 1st opened to the public.
1800 Feb 11, William Henry Fox Talbot (d.1877), British inventor and pioneer in instantaneous photography, was born.
1808 Feb 11, Anthracite coal was 1st burned as fuel, experimentally, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
1809 Feb 11, Robert Fulton patented the steamboat.
1811 Feb 11, Pres. Madison prohibited trade with Britain for 3rd time in 4 years.
1812 Feb 11, Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a re-districting law that favored his party, giving rise to the term "gerrymandering." His district was shaped like a salamander.
1847 Feb 11, American inventor Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. He was the inventor of the first electric light bulb and pioneer of the motion picture industry. He also Invented at least 1,300 other items.
1852 Feb 11, The 1st British public female toilet opened at Bedford Street in London.
1854 Feb 11, Major streets were lit by coal gas for 1st time.
1854 Feb 11, Commodore Matthew Perry pulled into Edo Bay, Japan, 12 months early with 9 warships to begin talks for a treaty.
1916 Feb 11, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra presented its 1st concert.
1916 Feb 11, Emma Goldman was arrested for lecturing on birth control.
1922 Feb 11, "April Showers" by Al Jolson hit #1.
1933 Feb 11, Pres. Hoover declared Death Valley a national monument.
1934 Feb 11, Mary Quant, fashion designer (Chelsea Look, Mod Look), was born in Kent, England.
1936 Feb 11, Burt Reynolds, actor (Evening Shade, Strip Tease, Cannonball Run), was born in Michigan.
1936 Feb 11, Pumping began for the creation of Treasure Island in SF Bay.
1953 Feb 11, Walt Disney’s “Peter Pan" premiered.
1964 Feb 11, The Beatles 1st live appearance in US was in the Washington, DC Coliseum. It was filmed by CBS.
1965 Feb 11, Pres. Lyndon Johnson ordered air strikes against targets in North Vietnam, in retaliation for guerrilla attacks on the American military in South Vietnam. The American "Rolling Thunder" bombing campaign intensified. In 2006 Rick Newman and Don Shepperd authored “Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail," an account of the pilots who flew low scouting for targets that threatened US bombers.
1990 Feb 11, In a stunning upset, heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round of his fight with Buster Douglas in Tokyo.