Daily List

Today in History, February 11th

On February 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela walked free after 27 years in prison. Plus the Lateran Treaty, Mubarak's fall and Edison's birth.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published February 11, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

February 11 is best known for Nelson Mandela’s release in 1990 after 27 years in South African prisons, a turning point on the road out of apartheid. The date also saw the Lateran Treaty recognize papal sovereignty over Vatican City in 1929, Hosni Mubarak’s resignation in Egypt in 2011, and the birth of Thomas Edison in 1847.

The big story: Nelson Mandela Walks Free (1990)

In June 1964, Nelson Mandela and other leaders of the African National Congress were convicted and sentenced to life in prison for their fight against South Africa’s white-minority government. He spent the next 27 years behind bars, 18 of them on Robben Island, and became the world’s best-known political prisoner. Change came from an unexpected place. F.W. de Klerk, who became president in 1989, began taking apart the apartheid system. He lifted the ban on the ANC, suspended executions and ordered Mandela freed. On February 11, 1990, Mandela walked out of prison a free man. The two men then negotiated an end to apartheid and shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. In the country’s first free elections the next year, the ANC won a majority and Mandela became South Africa’s president. He served one term and retired in 1999.

More events on February 11

Year	What happened
1858	Bernadette Soubirous, 14, reported the first of her visions of the Virgin Mary near Lourdes, France.
1878	The Boston Bicycle Club, the first recreational cycling club in the U.S., was formed.
1916	Activist Emma Goldman was arrested in New York City for lecturing on birth control, then illegal under the Comstock Act.
1929	Italy and the Holy See signed the Lateran Treaty, recognizing the pope’s sovereignty over Vatican City.
1945	The Yalta Conference ended after a week of talks among Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin on postwar Europe.
1963	Julia Child’s The French Chef debuted on public television and made her America’s first TV cooking star.
1970	Japan launched its first satellite, Ohsumi, becoming the fourth country to put a satellite in orbit on its own.
1975	Margaret Thatcher was elected leader of Britain’s Conservative Party.
1989	Barbara Harris became the first woman consecrated a bishop in the Anglican Communion.
2011	Hosni Mubarak resigned as Egypt’s president after nearly 30 years in power, following weeks of mass protests.
2012	Singer Whitney Houston died in Beverly Hills at age 48.
2020	The World Health Organization gave the disease caused by the new coronavirus its official name: COVID-19.

Born on February 11

1800: William Henry Fox Talbot, English inventor of the calotype, an early photo process that used negatives so many prints could be made.
1847: Thomas Edison, inventor from Milan, Ohio, who held more than 1,000 patents, including for the phonograph.
1969: Jennifer Aniston, actress best known as Rachel Green on Friends.