| 11 February 1115 | Saxony, Holy Roman Empire, Germany [wars] | Duke Lothair of Saxony rebels against Emperor Henry V and defeats him at Welfesholz. |
| 11 February 1650 | France, Sweden [births and deaths] | René Descartes, French philosopher, scientist and mathematician, considered to be the founder of modern philosophy, whose best-known work is Discours de la méthode/Discourse on Method (1637), dies in Stockholm, Sweden (53). |
| 11 February 1730 | Russia [political events] | Tsar Peter II of Russia dies and is succeeded by Anna, the daughter of Ivan V, Tsar Peter I the Great's half-brother and co-tsar 1682–96. |
| 11 February 1847 | USA [births and deaths] | Thomas Alva Edison, prolific US inventor who invents the light bulb, phonograph, and motion picture projector, born in Milan, Ohio (–1931). |
| 11 February 1929 | Italy, Vatican [treaties] | The Lateran Treaties recognize the pope's sovereignty over the Vatican, bringing the Vatican City State into being, and ending the hiatus in Italian relations with the Vatican that had existed since Italian unification in 1870. |
| 11 February 1963 | USA, England [births and deaths] | Sylvia Plath, US poet and novelist, commits suicide in London, England (30). |
| 11 February 1984 | Middle East [Iran–Iraq War (1980–88)] | Iraq commences the bombing of non-military targets in Iran in a new escalation of the war between the two countries. |
| 11 February 1990 | South Africa [political events] | The African National Congress (ANC) leader, Nelson Mandela, is released in South Africa after almost 26 years in prison. |
| 11 February 1993 | Antarctica [exploration] | Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Dr Michael Stroud of Britain complete the first unsupported crossing of Antarctica on foot, having covered 2,160 km/1,350 mi in 95 days. |
| 11 February 2000 | UK, Northern Ireland [political events] | The British government suspends Northern Ireland's new power-sharing government after the Irish Republican Army (IRA) fails to begin decommissioning weapons. |
| 11 February–22 February 2000 | USA [space exploration] | The space shuttle Endeavour carries out a mission in which it scans the Earth's surface with radar signals to create a detailed topographical map of the world. |
