^B{^#!16!11 February^N! Feast day of Saints Saturninus and Dativus, St Benedict of Aniane, St Gregory II, pope, St Caedmon, St Pascal, pope, St Lazarus of Milan, St Lucius of Adrianople, and St Severinus of Agaunum.
^B{1818^B} Independence was proclaimed by Chile. ^B{1858^B} Bernadette Soubirous, a peasant girl, allegedly had a vision of the Virgin Mary in a grotto in Lourdes. ^B{1878^B} The first weekly weather report was published by the Meteorological Office. ^B{1945^B} The Yalta Conference ended, at which the Allied leaders planned the final defeat of Germany and agreed on the establishment of the United Nations. ^B{1975^B} Margaret Thatcher became the first woman leader of a British political party.^B{ 1990^B} After more than 27 years in prison, ANC president Nelson Mandela walked to freedom from a prison near Cape Town, South Africa. ^B{1993^B} US President Clinton nominated Janet Reno as Attorney-General.
^B{^I{^#!14!Born ^N}Henry Fox Talbot, British photographic pioneer, ^B{1800^B}; Thomas Edison, US inventor, ^B{1847^B}; Vivian Fuchs, British Antarctic explorer, ^B{1908^B}; Joseph Mankiewicz, US film writer and director, ^B{1909^B}; Mary Quant, English fashion designer, ^B{1934^B}; Burt Reynolds, US film actor, ^B{1936^B}.
^B{^I{^#!14!Died ^N}Lazaro Spallanzani, Italian physiologist and chemist, ^B{1799^B}; HonorΘ Daumier, French caricaturist, ^B{1879^B}; John Buchan, Canadian statesman and novelist, ^B{1940^B}; Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein, Russian film director, ^B{1948^B}; Silvia Plath, US poet, ^B{1963^B}; Lee J Cobb, US actor, ^B{1976^B}.
