I could mark the 31 anniversary of the Iranian Revolution

but

February 11, 1969 -
Our lady of the perpetual bad relationship, Jennifer Aniston, was born on this date.



You have to know your priorities


February 11, 1962 -
Sheryl Suzanne Crow, singer-songwriter, musician and Michael Jackson backup singer survivor, was born on this date.







Good to know that she's still in good health


Today in History:
On February 11, 1573, Francis Drake discovered the Pacific Ocean,

which had been missing since being misplaced during the Roman Empire. And he still had time to create those delicious little cakes.


February 11, 1650 -
Rene Descartes, mathematician, drunken fart and philosopher best known for his statement "I think therefore I am", stops thinking on this date.



Queen Christina of Sweden (remember - the boy queen - see December 18 ) persuaded Descartes to come to Stockholm. On this date, after only a few months in that cold climate, he died of pneumonia.

Kids let this be a lesson to you - never accept an invitation from transvestite royalty.


Friedrich Ebert was elected the first president of the German Republic on February 11, 1919.

President Ebert brought about the Weimar constitution that eventually resulted in Adolf Hitler's rise to power.

I bet he didn't see that coming.


February 11, 1929 -
The Lateran Treaty is signed -- Mussolini granted recognition to the Vatican in return for their support of his fascist dictatorship.

Kids, here's another lesson for you - entering a treaty with balding dictators can never lead to anything good.


February 11, 1936 -
It's Burt Reynolds' birthday. He's not the one who squealed like a pig in Deliverance (what he does in his private life is none of my concern.)



But his hairpiece is much younger than he is.


February 11, 1938 -
BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play R.U.R., which coined the term robot.



The show was a thirty-five-minute adaptation of a section of the play, performed live from the BBC's Alexandra Palace studios. The BBC had no professional facility for recording programs in those pre-war days, so save a few on-set publicity photographs and reviews in the press, all records of this production are lost.


February 11, 1960 -
Jack Paar, temperament host of the Tonight Show, in a fit of pique, walks off his TV show when he is not allowed to tell a very lame joke about W.C. 's.



Yes Jack, there is a better way to make a living than this, nowadays, you would be allowed to broadcast live from your toilet while using it (although Conan O'Brien could not prove this to be true.)


February 11, 1963 -
Julia Child's show The French Chef premieres.





Save the chicken livers!


February 11, 1979 -
43 million people try to seek salvation by watching Elvis! on ABC.



Most do not find it because they forgot to place one hand on the TV screen and the other hand upon their pelvic area.

When will the damned ever learn.


February 11, 1986 -
Frank Herbert, author of Dune, dies from pancreatic cancer.



If only he had access to the spice Melange.


February 11, 1990 -
Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is freed from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa.




PS - Happy Birthday Vivian



And so it goes.