Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Today is Feb. 11. Nelson Mandela, leader of the movement to end South African apartheid, was released from prison on this date in 1990 after 27 years behind bars. Mandela later became president of South Africa. Advertisement A judging scandal in the 2002 Winter Olympics prompted the awarding of two gold medals in the pairs figure skating competition. Initially, Russia was awarded the gold over the overwhelming crowd favorite Canadian team. However, an investigation uncovered judging irregularities and, while Russia kept its gold, Canada got one, too. A young French girl, Bernadette Sourbirous, claimed on this date in 1858 that the Virgin Mary had appeared to her at Lourdes. The shrine is now visited by thousands of pilgrims each year. President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin ended their wartime conference at Yalta on this date in 1945. They signed an agreement that, among other things, called for occupying Germany after the war ended. Japan joined the space race on this date in 1970 when it became the fourth nation to put a satellite into orbit -- following in the footsteps of the Soviet Union, the United States and France. Advertisement This is the anniversary of the infamous "water closet" incident. In 1960, Jack Parr -- then the host of "The Tonight Show" - walked off the late-night program after NBC censored his slightly off-color "water closet" joke the night before. After meeting with network executives, he agreed to return to the show March 7. The Monkees set a record on this date in 1967 when their second album, "More of the Monkees," jumped from 122nd place into the No.1 spot on the Billboard Top-200 album chart. It remained atop the chart for 18 weeks. And in 1993, British Prime Minister John Majors announced that, from now on, Queen Elizabeth II would be paying income tax on all her personal income, as well as being subject to capital and inheritance levies. We're guessing the queen doesn't fill out her own tax returns. We now return you to the present, already in progress.
