MILESTONES: February 11, birthdays for Sarah Palin, Jennifer Aniston, Sheryl Crow

February 11, 2019 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Jennifer Aniston. AP Photo/Evan Agostini

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NOTABLE PEOPLE born on this day include actress Jennifer Aniston, who was born in 1969; U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who was born in 1962; singer Brandy, who was born in 1979; singer Sheryl Crow, who was born in 1962; actress Natalie Dormer, who was born in 1982; actor Taylor Lautner, who was born in 1992; actor Damian Lewis, who was born in 1971; actress Tina Louise, who was born in 1934; actress Carey Lowell, who was born in 1961; musician Sergio Mendes, who was born in 1941; and former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who was born in 1964.

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NELSON MANDELA WAS RELEASED ON THIS DAY IN 1990. After serving more than 27 years of a life sentence (convicted, with eight others, of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government), South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, 71 years old, walked away from the Victor Verster prison farm at Paarl, South Africa, a free man. He had survived the governmental system of apartheid. Mandela greeted a cheering throng of well-wishers, along with hundreds of millions of television viewers worldwide, with demands for an intensification of the struggle for equality for black Africans, who make up nearly 75 percent of South Africa’s population.

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THE YALTA AGREEMENT WAS SIGNED ON THIS DAY ON 1945. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British prime minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin signed an agreement at Yalta, a Soviet city on the Black Sea in the Crimea. The agreement contained plans for new blows at the heart of Germany and for occupying Germany at the end of the war. It also called for a meeting in San Francisco to draft a charter for the United Nations.

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TODAY MARKS THE FOUNDING OF JAPAN. In 1872 the government officially set Feb 11, 660 BC, as the date of accession to the throne of the Emperor Jimmu (said to be Japan’s first emperor) and designated the day Empire Day, a national holiday. The holiday was abolished after WWII but was revived as National Foundation Day in 1966. Ceremonies are held with Their Imperial Majesties the Emperor and Empress, the prime minister and other dignitaries attending.

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THE FRENCH CHEF PREMEIRED ON THIS DAY IN 1963. Beginning on this date, Julia Child demystified French cooking and entertained viewers as “The French Chef.”. The show was a great success in syndication on PBS stations, and Child filmed 200 programs — always with her trademark trilling voice and at times slapping around the poultry — signing off with a cheery “Bon appétit!” Child’s show, along with her book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” are credited with awakening Americans to the joy of continental cuisine.

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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and the Brooklyn Public Library.

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“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” — Nelson Mandela, who was released from prison on this day in 1990.