History for February 11

History for February 11 - On-This-Day.com
Thomas Alva Edison 1847 - Inventor and businessman. His inventions included the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb, Tina Louise 1934 - Actress ("Gilligan's Island"), Burt Reynolds 1936 - Actor ("Smokey and the Bandit")


Jeb Bush 1953 - Governor of Florida, brother of U.S. President George W. Bush, Sarah Palin 1964 - Governor of Alaska, Jennifer Aniston 1969 - Actress ("Friends")


1752 - The Pennsylvania Hospital opened as the very first hospital in America.


1808 - Judge Jesse Fell experimented by burning anthracite coal to keep his house warm. He successfully showed how clean the coal burned and how cheaply it could be used as a heating fuel.


1812 - The term "gerrymandering" had its beginning when the governor of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry, signed a redistricting law that favored his party.


1858 - A French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary near Lourdes.


1943 - General Dwight David Eisenhower was selected to command the allied armies in Europe.


1975 - Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to head a major party in Britain when she was elected leader of the Conservative Party.


1990 - Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in captivity.


1993 - Janet Reno was appointed to the position of attorney general by U.S. President Clinton. She was the first female to hold the position.