– On this day in 1961, Robert Weaver was sworn in as administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency, highest federal post at the time ever achieved by a black American.

– On this day in 1971, Whitney L. Young died. He was named the Executive Director of the National Urban League in 1961.

– On this day in 1976, Clifford Alexander Jr is confirmed as the first black Secretary of the Army.

– On this day in 1990 Nelson Mandela is released from prison.

Feb 11, 1783 – Born on this day, Jarena Lee is the considered the first female preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The daughter of former slaves, born in Cape May, New Jersey.

Feb 11, 1989 – Penn's 1996 Baccalaureate Speaker is The Right Reverend Barbara Clementine Harris, a Philadelphian who was the first woman ever to become a bishop in the Anglican Communion. Bishop Harris entered the priesthood after a long and successful career in public and community relations in Philadelphia between 1949 and 1977.

Feb 11, 1958 – Journalist and nurse Ruth Carol Taylor became the first African American airline flight attendant in the United States when she joined Mohawk Airlines in 1958. While she is most commonly known for her achievement in the airline industry, she spent much of her career as an activist for minority and women’s rights.

Feb 11, 1958– Leopoldine Emma Doualla-Bell Smith (1939 - )is the world’s first black flight attendant. Smith was born in Cameroon which, at the time, France controlled. Smith was a princess of the royal Douala family of Cameroon.

Feb 11, 1898 – Owen L. W. Smith of North Carolina, AME Zion minister and educator, named minister to Liberia.

Dudley, Edward Richard (1911-2005)

February 11, 2005, Edward Dudley passed away. He was the first black American to lead a U.S. Mission abroad with the rank of Ambassador.

Also on this day in history…

1534 – Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.

1790 – The Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, petitions U.S. Congress for the abolition of slavery.

1794 – First session of United States Senate opens to the public.

1808 – Jesse Fell burns anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal.

1812 – Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry is accused of "gerrymandering" for the first time.

1903 – Anton Bruckner's 9th Symphony receives its first performance in Vienna, Austria.

1937 – The Flint sit-down strike ends when General Motors recognizes the United Auto Workers trade union.

1938 – BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television programme, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R., that coined the term "robot".

1939 – A Lockheed P-38 Lightning flies from California to New York in seven hours two minutes.

1971 – Cold War: Eighty-seven countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union, sign the Seabed Arms Control Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in international waters.

1973 – Vietnam War: First release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place.

1978 – Censorship: China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.

1979 – The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

1990 – Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner.

1997 – Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

2006 – U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney shot Harry Whittington, a 78-year-old Texas attorney, while participating in a quail hunt on a ranch in Riviera, Texas.

And if today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You! You share this special day with…

1847 – Thomas Edison, American engineer and businessman, developed the light bulb and phonograph (d. 1931)

1909 – Max Baer, American boxer and actor (d. 1959)

1914 – Josh White, American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and activist (d. 1969)

1919 – Eva Gabor, Hungarian-American actress, socialite and businesswoman (d. 1995)

1921 – Lloyd Bentsen, American colonel and politician, 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 2006)

1926 – Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-American actor and producer (d. 2010)

1934 – Tina Louise, American actress and singer

1934 – Manuel Noriega, Panamanian general and politician, Military Leader of Panama (d. 2017)

1935 – Gene Vincent, American singer and guitarist (d. 1971)

1936 – Burt Reynolds, American actor and director (d. 2018)

1941 – Sérgio Mendes, Brazilian pianist and composer

1942 – Otis Clay, American singer-songwriter (d. 2016)

1953 – Jeb Bush, American banker and politician, 43rd Governor of Florida

1962 – Tammy Baldwin, American lawyer and politician

1962 – Sheryl Crow, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress

1964 – Sarah Palin, American journalist and politician, 9th Governor of Alaska

1968 – Mo Willems, American author and illustrator

1969 – Jennifer Aniston, American actress and producer

Almanac - Tuesday 2/11/20

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