TODAY IN HISTORY - FEBRUARY 11TH

1794 – First session of United States Senate opens to the public.

1826 – University College London is founded as University of London.

1847 – Thomas Edison, American engineer and businessman, developed the light bulb and phonograph (d. 1931) is born.

1919 – Eva Gabor, Hungarian-American actress, socialite and businesswoman (d. 1995) is born.

1937 – A sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers.

1938 – BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R., that coined the term "robot".

1939 – A Lockheed P-38 Lightning flies from California to New York in 7 hours 2 minutes.

1943 – World War II: General Dwight D. Eisenhower is selected to command the allied armies in Europe.

1953 – Jeb Bush, American banker and politician, 43rd Governor of Florida is born.

1953 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower denies all appeals for clemency for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

1962 – Sheryl Crow, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress is born.

1964 – Sarah Palin, American journalist and politician, 9th Governor of Alaska is born.

1971 – Eighty-seven countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union, sign the Seabed Arms Control Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in international waters.

1979 – The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

1981 – Around 100,000 US gallons (380 m³) of radioactive coolant leak into the containment building of TVA Sequoyah 1 nuclear plant in Tennessee, contaminating eight workers.

1990 – Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner.

1990 – Buster Douglas, a 42:1 underdog, knocks out Mike Tyson in ten rounds at Tokyo to win boxing's world Heavyweight title and cause the largest upset in sports history.

1992 – Taylor Lautner, American actor and martial artist is born.

2001 – A Dutch programmer launched the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennis star.

2012 – Whitney Houston, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (b. 1963) dies.

2015 – Jerry Tarkanian, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930) dies.