See the Difference!: Friday! History, Recognition, Music, Sports, Quotes, Videos!

In 1872, the Meiji government proclaimed February 11, 660 BC, in the Gregorian calendar the foundation day of Japan, which was then commemorated as the holiday Kigensetsu ("Era Day")

On This Date In 1776 Georgia's royal governor, Sir James Wright, escaped from his residence in Savannah to the safety of a waiting British warship, the HMS Scarborough, anchored at the mouth of the Savannah River, and returned to London.

On This Date In 1778 some 300 people visited Voltaire following his return to Paris. Voltaire had been in exile for 28 years.

On This Date In 1805 Sacagawea, the Shoshone Indian interpreter and guide to the Lewis and Clark expedition, gave birth to her first child, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau.

On This Date In 1847 Thomas Edison, inventor of the first reusable lightbulb, was born. See additional bio on video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqjJwyUXcd4

On This Date In 1858 In southern France, Marie-Bernarde Soubirous, a 14-year-old French peasant girl, first claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ and a central figure in the Roman Catholic religion. The apparitions, which totaled 18 before the end of the year, occurred in a grotto of a rock promontory near Lourdes, France. Marie explained that the Virgin Mary revealed herself as the Immaculate Conception, asked that a chapel be built on the site of the vision, and told the girl to drink from a fountain in the grotto, which Marie subsequently discovered by digging into the earth.

On This Date In 1861 President-elect Abraham Lincoln left his home in Springfield, Illinois, as he embarked on his journey to Washington. Knowing seven states of the lower South had already seceded from the Union, and his next actions could lead to civil war, he spoke at his departure: "Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young man to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being... I cannot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail... To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell." Indeed, Lincoln's words were prophetic—a funeral train carried him back to Springfield just over four years later.

On This Date In 1928 through February 19, the II Olympic Winter Games were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

On This Date In 1937, after a six-week sit-down strike by General Motors (GM) autoworkers at the Fisher Body Plant No. 2 in Flint, Michigan, GM president Alfred P. Sloan signed the first union contract in the history of the American auto industry.

On This Date In 1941, Glenn Miller was presented the first Gold Record for his interpretation of “Chattanooga Choo-Choo”.

On This Date In 1945 A week of secret meetings between President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin at the Black Sea port of Yalta ended, and Roosevelt and his daughter, Anna, began their journey home. The meeting was his last appearance at an international conference.

On This Date In 1952 a series of deadly avalanches begins across central Europe. Overall, it is estimated that 78 people died across Europe from the snowstorm and resulting avalanches.

On This Date In 1960 The Payola scandal reached a new level of public prominence and legal gravity, when President Eisenhower called it an issue of public morality, and the FCC proposed a new law making involvement in Payola a criminal act.

On This Date In 1970 From the Kagoshima Space Center on the east coast of Japan's Ohsumi Peninsula, Ohsumi, Japan's first satellite, was successfully launched into an orbit around Earth. The achievement made Japan the world's fourth space power, after the Soviet Union in 1957, the United States in 1958, and France in 1965.

On This Date In 1979, followers of Allatolah Komeini seized power in Iran. Komeini would return 15 years later.

On This Date In 1989 ”Little Vera” (Russian: Ма́ленькая Ве́ра, Malenkaya Vera), a film by the Russian film director Vasili Pichul, and made at Gorky Film Studio, was released.

On This Date In 1990, in a major upset, Buster Douglas defeated Mike Tyson, the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, in 10 rounds at a boxing match in Tokyo, Japan.

On This Date In 1993 President Bill Clinton nominated Janet Reno for Attorney General

On This Date In 2000 ”The Tigger Movie”, a 2000 American/Japanese animated family film directed by Jun Falkenstein, was released. Part of the Winnie the Pooh series, this film features Pooh's friend Tigger in his search for his family tree and other Tiggers like himself.

On This Date In 2006, Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a friend in a quayle-hunting trip in Texas.

On This Date In 2007 The 49th Annual Grammy Awards, a ceremony honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning September 15, 2005 and ending September 14, 2006 in the United States, was held. The awards were handed out on Sunday, February 11, 2007 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

On This Date In 2008 several of J.R.R Tolkien’s heirs joined a group of publishers in filing a $150 million lawsuit against New Line Cinema, in Los Angeles Superior Court.

On This Date In 2009 Brett Favre informed the New York Jets that he would retire after 18 seasons. Report on the announcement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdi4gvt5hoM&feature=player_embedded

On This Date In 2009 Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as the new Prime Minister Of Zimbabwe.

On This Date In 2010 A day after his brother, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, pleaded not guilty to corruption charges, Robert Blagojevich appeared in federal court in Chicago on Thursday morning and entered the same plea to similar accusations. Robert Blagojevich, who ran his brother's campaign fund in part of 2008, pleaded not guilty to three new criminal counts, including extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion and bribery conspiracy.

Hat tip to any included contributing sources, along with:

http://timelines.com/what-happened-on/2/11 , http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history , and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Happy Birthday Tina Louise(1934), Burt Reynolds (1936), Sergio Mendes (1941), Jeb Bush (1953), Carey Lowell (1961), Sheryl Crow (1962), Sarah Palin (1964), Jennifer Aniston (1969), and Alex Jones (1974).

RIP William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877), Thomas Edison (1847-1931), Leo Szilard (1898-1964), Max Baer (1909-1959), Sidney Sheldon (1917-2007), Eva Gabor (1920-1995), Leslie Nielsen (1926-2010), and Mel Carnahan (1934-2000).

Quotes:

It is a fine thing to establish one's own religion in one's heart, not to be dependent on tradition and second-hand ideals. Life will seem to you, later, not a lesser, but a greater thing. D. H. Lawrence (1885 - 1930)

Any ordinary favor we do for someone or any compassionate reaching out may seem to be going nowhere at first, but may be planting a seed we can't see right now. Sometimes we need to just do the best we can and then trust in an unfolding we can't design or ordain. Sharon Salzberg, O Magazine, The Power of Intention, January 2004

There ain't no free lunches in this country. And don't go spending your whole life commiserating that you got raw deals. You've got to say, 'I think that if I keep working at this and want it bad enough I can have it.' Lee Iacocca (1924 - )

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will. George Bernard Shaw

God is not on the side of any nation, yet we know He is on the side of justice. Our finest moments [as a nation] have come when we faithfully served the cause of justice for our own citizens, and for the people of other lands. George W. Bush, Klein, J. (2004). The perils of a righteous president. Time, May 17: 25.

Courtesy YouTube:

A Tribute to Tina Louise

A tribute to one of the most beautiful and sexy actresses of the past few decades - Tina Louise!