February 11 in History

February 11 is the 42nd day of the year. There are 324 days remaining until the end of the year.

February 11 is National Inventor’s Day in the United States.

• 1752 – Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the US, was opened by Benjamin Franklin.
• 1794 – First session of the US Senate was open to the public.
• 1826 – The University of London was founded. 
• 1938 – BBC Television produced the world's first Science Fiction television program.
• 1941 – The first gold record was presented to Glenn Miller for Chattanooga Choo Choo.
• 1953 – President Dwight Eisenhower refuses a clemency appeal for convicted Soviet spies Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.
• 1973 – The first release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam took place.
• 1978 – The People’s Republic of China lifted a ban on works by  Aristotle, William Shakespeare, and Charles Dickens.
• 1990 – Nelson Mandela was released from prison after 27 years as a political prisoner.
• 2011 – The Egyptian Revolution culminated in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak.