What happened on February 11 ?

641 - Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium

731 - Pope Gregory II

821 - Saint Benedict of Aniane

824 - Pope Paschal I

1141 - Hugo of St. Victor, German philosopher and theologian

1160 - Minamoto no Yoshitomo, Japanese general (b. 1123)

1503 - Elizabeth of York, queen consort of Henry VII of England (b. 1466)

1626 - Pietro Cataldi, Italian mathematician (b. 1552)

1650 - René Descartes, French philosopher (b. 1596)

1685 - David Teniers III, Flemish painter (b. 1638)

1713 - Jahandar Shah, Mughal emperor of Indai (b. 1664)

1755 - Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, Italian archaeologist (b. 1675)

1762 - Johann Tobias Krebs, German composer (b. 1690)

1763 - William Shenstone, English poet (b. 1714)

1797 - Antoine Dauvergne, French composer (b. 1713)

1829 - Alexandr Griboyedov, Russian playwright (b. 1795)

1862 - Elizabeth Siddal, British poet and artist (b. 1829)

1868 - Léon Foucault, French astronomer (b. 1819)

1879 - Honoré Daumier, French caricaturist and painter (b. 1808)

1917 - Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian physician (b. 1872)

1931 - Charles Algernon Parsons, British inventor (b. 1854)

1939 - Franz Schmidt, Austrian composer (b. 1874)

1940 - John Buchan, Governor-General of Canada (b. 1875)

1945 - Al Dubin, Swiss songwriter (b. 1891)

1948 - Sergei Eisenstein, Latvian film director (b. 1898)

1959 - Marshall Teague, American race car driver (b. 1922)

1960 - Ernst von Dohnanyi, Hungarian conductor (b. 1877)

1963 - Sylvia Plath, American writer (b. 1932)

1968 - Howard Lindsay, American playwright (b. 1888)

1972 - Jan Wils, Dutch architect (b. 1891)

1973 - Hans D Jensen, German physicist, Nobel Prize physicist (b. 1907)

1975 - Richard Ratsimandrava, Malagasy soldier and statesman, assasinated (b. 1931)

1976 - Lee J Cobb, American actor (b. 1911)

1976 - Alexander Lippisch, German scientist (b. 1894)

1977 - Louis Beel, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1902)

1978 - James B Conant, American chemist and university president (b. 1893)

1978 - Harry Martinson, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)

1982 - Eleanor Powell, American actress and dancer (b. 1912)

1982 - Takashi Shimura, Japanese actor (b. 1905)

1985 - Ben Abruzzo, American businessman and balloonist (b. 1930)

1985 - Henry Hathaway, American actor and director (b. 1898)

1985 - Heinz Eric Roemheld, American composer (b. 1901)

1986 - Frank Herbert, American author (b. 1920)

1987 - Sadequain, famous Pakistani painter and artist. (b. 1930)

1989 - George O'Hanlon, American actor and director (b. 1912)

1991 - Robert W. Holley, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1922)

1994 - Neil Bonnett, American race car driver (b. 1946)

1994 - Sorrell Booke, American actor (b. 1930)

1994 - William Conrad, American actor (b. 1920)

1996 - Kebby Musokotwane, Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1946)

1996 - Cyril Poole, English cricketer (b. 1921)

1996 - Amelia Rosselli, Italian poet (b. 1930)

1997 - Barry Evans, English actor (b. 1943)

1997 - Don Porter, American actor (b. 1912)

2000 - Roger Vadim, French director (b. 1928)

2002 - Frank Crosetti, baseball player (b. 1910)

2002 - Barry Foster, British actor (b. 1931)

2004 - Shirley Strickland, Australain athlete

2005 - Jack L. Chalker, American author (b. 1944)

2006 - Jockey Shabalala, South African singer