TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Sunday, Feb. 11, the 42nd day of 2018. There are 323 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 11, 1968, New York City’s fourth and current Madison Square Garden, located on Manhattan’s West Side at the site of what used to be the Pennsylvania Station building, opened with a “Salute to the USO” hosted by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. (The same evening, the New York Rangers played their final game at the third Garden, tying the Detroit Red Wings 3-3.)

On this date:

In 1812, Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a redistricting law favoring his Democratic-Republican Party—giving rise to the term “gerrymandering.”

In 1937, a six-weekold sit-down strike against General Motors ended, with the company agreeing to recognize the United Automobile Workers Union.

In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement, in which Stalin agreed to declare war against Imperial Japan following Nazi Germany’s capitulation.

In 1990, South African black activist Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in captivity.

Thought for Today:

“Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners.”—Laurence Sterne, Irish-born English author (1713-1768).