Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Monday, Feb. 11, the 42nd day of 2013. There are 323 days left in the year.

Today's highlight:

On Feb. 11, 1963, American author and poet Sylvia Plath was found dead in her London flat, a suicide; she was 30.

On this date:

In 1812, Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a re-districting law favoring his Democratic-Republican Party -- giving rise to the term "gerrymandering."

In 1858, a French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, reported the first of 18 visions of a lady dressed in white in a grotto near Lourdes. (The Catholic Church later accepted that the visions were of the Virgin Mary.)

In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Fort Donelson began in Tennessee. (Union forces led by Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant captured the fort five days later.)

In 1937, a six-week-old 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 during World War II.

In 1979, followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran.

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

In 1993, President Bill Clinton announced his choice of Miami prosecutor Janet Reno to be the nation's first female attorney general, after two earlier candidates stumbled because they'd hired illegal aliens.

Ten years ago: Addressing a historic rift within NATO, Secretary of State Colin Powell told a congressional hearing that the future of the military alliance was at risk if it failed to confront the crisis with Iraq.

Five years ago: The Defense Department charged Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and five other detainees at Guantanamo Bay with murder and war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. (Charges against one were later dropped; the trial of the other five has yet to take place.) Yahoo Inc. rejected Microsoft Corp.'s unsolicited takeover bid.

One year ago: Whitney Houston, 48, who'd ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice was ravaged by drug use and her regal image was tarnished by erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, was found dead in a hotel room in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Today's birthdays: Actor Conrad Janis is 85. Actress Tina Louise is 79. Actor Burt Reynolds is 77. Actor Sonny Landham is 72. Bandleader Sergio Mendes is 72. Rhythm-and-blues singer Otis Clay is 71. ARock musician David Uosikkinen (The Hooters) is 57. Actress Carey Lowell is 52. Singer Sheryl Crow is 51. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is 49. Actress Jennifer Aniston is 44. Actor Damian Lewis is 42. Singer D'Angelo is 39. Rock M-C/vocalist Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park) is 36. Singer-actress Brandy is 34. Actor Matthew Lawrence is 33. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kelly Rowland is 32. Singer Aubrey O'Day is 29. Actress Q'orianka Kilcher is 23. Actor Taylor Lautner is 21.

Thought for Today: "Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing." -- Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)