TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY is Thursday, February 11, the 42nd day of 2021. There are 323 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1823 — The Carnival tragedy occurs at the Convent of the Minori Osservanti in Valletta, Crown Colony of Malta, when approximately 110 boys, who had gone to the convent to receive bread on the last day of carnival celebrations, were killed in a stampede while attempting to leave the convent.
1864 — Charles Heaphy is recommended for a Victoria Cross after rescuing a soldier under fire in the Battle of Waiari, in Waikato. Not awarded the decoration until 1867, Heaphy was the only member of New Zealand’s colonial forces awarded the VC.
1922 — The Forests Act passes into New Zealand law, with the intention of establishing the New Zealand Forest Service.
1938 — Sir Frederic Truby King, who founded the New Zealand Plunket Society, dies aged 79.
1944 — A large crowd gathers in Anzac Square, Dunedin, to welcome home the second furlough draft from the Middle East.
1945 — United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt, British prime minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin sign the Yalta Agreement during World War 2.
1950 — Englishman Jack Holden wins the marathon at the Auckland Empire Games, in a time of 2hr 32min 57sec. He ran the last nine miles (14.5km) barefoot after his shoes fell apart during the race. The marathon brought to a close the Fourth Empire Games.
1958 — The Queen Mother, while in Dunedin, visits Taiaroa Head to view the albatrosses, and attends a mayoral reception in the town hall with local and government dignitaries.
1973 — A sixyear campaign to save Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau from hydroelectric development concludes with the Government appointing six guardians of the lakes.
1975 — Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for leadership of the British Conservative Party.
1990 — Nelson Mandela is released after 27 years of imprisonment in South Africa; in one of the great upset victories in boxing Buster Douglas, a 421 underdog, knocks out undefeated champion Mike Tyson in 10 rounds at Tokyo Dome to win the world heavyweight title.
1995 — Danyon Loader swims a worldrecord 3min 40.46sec for the shortcourse 400m freestyle at the World Cup meeting in Sheffield, England.
2006 — Adventurer Steve Fossett completes the longest nonstop flight in aviation history with an emergency landing in England, flying 42,460km in about 76 hours but stopping early because of mechanical problems.
2011 — The Egyptian Revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 18 days of protests during the Arab Spring.
2013 — Pope Benedict XVI announces his resignation to be effective from February 28. He is the first pope to resign since 1415.