1. On February 11, 1776, the governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Gage, fled from Boston to Halifax, Nova Scotia, as American Patriots surrounded the city. This event marked a turning point in the American Revolution, as it paved the way for the Patriots to take control of Boston and eventually gain independence from Great Britain.

2. On February 11, 1802, the Massachusetts legislature approved the incorporation of Salem State College, which later became Salem State University. Today, the university is known for its strong programs in education, business, and the arts, among other fields.

3. On February 11, 1873, the first commercial electric railway in the United States began operating in the Boston suburb of Roxbury. The line, which was powered by a third rail, ran along Washington Street and connected Roxbury with Boston's downtown area.

4. On February 11, 1943, a massive fire swept through the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, killing 492 people and injuring hundreds more. The tragedy remains one of the deadliest nightclub disasters in history and led to significant changes in fire safety regulations across the country.

5. On February 11, 1963, civil rights activist Medgar Evers visited Boston to speak at a fundraiser for the NAACP. Evers, who was the NAACP's field secretary in Mississippi, was assassinated six months later in his driveway by a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Evers' death was a rallying cry for the civil rights movement and helped galvanize support for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.