On This Day:
Saturday February 11, 2012
This is the 42nd day of the year, with 324 days remaining
in 2012.
Fact of the Day: pink and blue
Researchers say that in Anglo-Saxon Britain, in the 5th and
6th centuries, boy babies were more prized than girls. The
belief spread that evil spirits would visit the cradle and
harm or carry off a boy child. Blue, a power color
representing the sky, would scare away an evil spirit.
Later, in Germany, a widespread legend held that girl babies
sprang from a pink rose and it became customary to dress
baby girls in pink. That custom merged with the British one
of dressing boys in blue.
Holidays
Feast day of Saints Saturninus and Dativus, St. Benedict of
Aniane, St. Gregory II, pope, St. Caedmon, St. Pascal, pope,
St. Lazarus of Milan, St. Lucius of Adrianople, and St.
Severinus of Agaunum.
Japan:
National Foundation Day.
Cameroon:
Youth Day.
Iran:
National Day.
Events
1254
- The British
Parliament first convened.
1531
- King
Henry VIII was recognized as supreme head of the Church
of England.
1812
- The term "gerrymandering" was coined when Massachusetts
Governor Elbridge
Gerry signed a re-districting law favoring his party.
1815
- News of the Treaty
of Ghent, ending the War
of 1812, finally reached the United
States.
1929
- The Lateran
Treaty was signed with Italy,
recognizing the independence and sovereignty of Vatican
City.
1945
- The Yalta
Conference ended, at which the Allied leaders planned
the final defeat of Germany
and agreed on the establishment of the United
Nations.
1975
- Margaret
Thatcher became the first woman to lead the British
Conservative Party.
1989
- Reverend Barbara
C. Harris became the first woman consecrated as a
bishop in the Episcopal
Church.
1990
- South African black activist Nelson
Mandela was freed after 27 years in captivity.
2006
- Vice
President Dick Cheney accidentally shoots a friend
during a quail hunting trip on a southern Texas ranch.
Births
1800
- William
Henry Fox Talbot, British photography pioneer,
producer of the first book with photographic illustrations.
1847
- Thomas
Alva Edison, prolific American inventor; claimed 1,093
patented ideas.
1855
- Josephine
Marshall Jewell Dodge, American educator, pioneer of
day care for children.
1926
- Leslie
Nielsen, Canadian
actor and absurdist
comedian.
1934
- Mary
Quant, British fashion designer.
1941
- Sérgio
Mendes, Brazilian musician.
1962
- Sheryl
Crow, nine-time Grammy-winning
American musician.
1972
- Kelly
Slater, American professional surfer.
Deaths
1963
- Sylvia
Plath, American poet.
1976
- Lee
J. Cobb (born Leo Jacoby), American actor.
2006
- Peter
Benchley, American novelist, journalist, and
screenwriter.
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