Flashback

Today is Saturday, Feb. 11, the 42nd day of 2006. There are 323 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight in history: On Feb. 11, 1945, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement during World War II.

Ten years ago: A day after losing to an IBM computer dubbed “Deep Blue,” world chess champion Garry Kasparov rebounded to defeat the machine and even their six-game series in Philadelphia at one victory apiece.

Five years ago: Two space commanders opened the door to Destiny, the American-made science laboratory attached the day before to the international space station. The East NBA All-Stars stunned the West squad, 111-110. Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh was demolished to clear the way for new separate baseball and football stadiums nearby.

One year ago: Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made an unannounced visit to Iraq, where he observed Iraqi security forces and declared “There’s no question progress has been made” in preparing the nation for building a new government. CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan quit amid a furor over remarks he’d made about journalists being targeted by the U.S. military in Iraq. Samuel W. Alderson, inventor of crash test dummies, died in Marina Del Rey, Calif., at age 90.

On this date:

In 1812, Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a redistricting law favoring his party, giving rise to the term “gerrymandering.”

In 1847, American inventor Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio.

In 1858, a French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed for the first time to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary near Lourdes.

In 1929, the Lateran Treaty was signed with Italy recognizing the independence and sovereignty of Vatican City.

In 1937, a sit-down strike against General Motors ended, with the company agreeing to recognize the United Automobile Workers Union.

In 1972, McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. and Life magazine canceled plans to publish what had turned out to be a fake autobiography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.

In 1979, followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran.

In 1986, Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky was released by the Soviet Union after nine years of captivity as part of an East-West prisoner exchange.

In 1990, South African black activist Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in captivity.