February 11
Today in America's Present Past
1766 | The colony of Virginia declared the British Stamp Act unconstitutional. The Northampton County court in Virginia was the first to declare the British Stamp Act unconstitutional and “unbinding.” It was a radical precursor to the Revolution.
1783 | Cleric Jarena Lee was born.
1786 | Massachusetts Circular published by Samuel Adams.
1790 | Civil Rights: Society of Friends petitions Congress for the abolition of slavery. It sparked a furious debate on the House floor.
1794 | Congress: U.S. Senate session opened to the public for the first time.
1803 | SCOTUS: Marbury v. Madison was argued in the Court. The oral arguments for this landmark case began on this day. It eventually established the principle of judicial review, giving the Court the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution.
1809 | Entrepreneur Robert Fulton patented the steamboat.
1811 | POTUS: President Madison prohibited trade with Great Britain.
1812 | Massachusetts Governor Eldridge Gerry signed an infamous redistricting plan. This redistricting bill created a district shaped like a salamander. A political cartoonist added wings and claws, coining the term “Gerry-mander.”
1828 | Politician DeWitt Clinton died.
1833 | SCOTUS: Chief Justice Melville Fuller was born.
1837 | American Physiological Society was founded.
1847 | Inventor Thomas Edison was born.
1848 | Painter Thomas Cole died.
1878 | The First American bicycle club was established in Boston, Massachusetts.
1881 | Entrepreneur Arthur Davison was born.
1895 | Georgetown was incorporated into Washington, D.C.
1902 | George Marshall wed Elisabeth Carter Coles.
1907 | Passenger ship Larchmont sank off of Rhode Island. The paddle steamer collided with a schooner in a blizzard. Of the roughly 150 people on board, only 19 survived the freezing waters.
1909 | Boxing champion Max Baer was born.
1916 | Civil Rights: The anarchist and activist Emma Goldsmith was arrested in New York City. At the time, discussing contraception was a violation of the Comstock Laws, which classified birth control information as “obscene.”
1918 | POTUS: Democrat President Wilson gave his “Four Principles” speech.
1925 | Medical researcher Virginia E. Johnson was born.
1936 | Actor Burt Reynolds was born.
1937 | Civil Rights: General Motors officially recognized the United Auto Workers (UAW) on this day, ending the historic 44-day sit-down strike in Flint and changing American labor relations forever.
1943 | WWII: General Dwight D. Eisenhower was promoted to Supreme Command of Allied Forces.
1945 | WWII: Democrat President Roosevelt signed the Declaration of Liberated Europe at the Yalta Conference.
1953 | POTUS: Republican Eisenhower denied clemency requests by the Rosenbergs to stay their execution.
1953 | Politician Jeb Bush was born.
1961 | Civil Rights: Housing Secretary Robert Weaver, the first U.S. Cabinet-level African American, was sworn in.
1962 | Singer Sheryl Crow was born.
1963 | Novelist Sylvia Plath died.
1986 | Author Frank Herbert died.
1990 | Boxer James “Buster” Douglas KO’s Mike Tyson to win the world heavyweight championship title. In one of the greatest upsets in sports history, 42-to-1 underdog Buster Douglas won in the 10th round in Tokyo.
2006 | Author Peter Benchley died.
2011 | Entertainer Whitney Houston died.
2016 | Oregon militia occupying a wildlife refuge surrenders.
2021 | POTUS: Democrat President Biden halted funding of a Mexican border wall.