February 10 is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 324 days remaining until the end of the year (325 in leap years).
Holidays
- Christian Feast Day:
- Feast of St. Paul’s Shipwreck (Malta)
- Fenkil Day (Eritrea)
- National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe, commemorate Italian Istrian and Dalmatian exiles and Foibe massacres (Italy, especially in Trieste)
History
In 1258, Baghdad falls to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed.
In 1306, In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn sparking revolution in the Scottish Wars of Independence
In 1355, The St. Scholastica’s Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days.
In 1567, Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is found strangled following an explosion at the Kirk o’ Field house in Edinburgh, Scotland, a suspected assassination.
In 1722, Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate (b. 1682) was killed by a grapeshot, which struck him in the throat while he stood on the deck. Before his body could be captured by Ogle, Roberts’ wish to be buried at sea was fulfilled by his crew, who weighed his body down and threw it overboard after wrapping it in his ship’s sail. It was never found. He was born John Roberts, was a Welsh pirate who raided ships off the Americas and West Africa between 1719 and 1722. He was the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy, as measured by vessels captured, taking over 470 prizes in his career. He is also known as Black Bart (Welsh: Barti Ddu), but this name was never used in his lifetime, and also risks confusion with Black Bart of the American West.
In 1755, Montesquieu, French philosopher (b. 1689) dies. Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu was a French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Age of Enlightenment. He is famous for his articulation of the theory of separation of powers, which is implemented in many constitutions throughout the world. He did more than any other author to secure the place of the word despotism in the political lexicon, and may have been partly responsible for the popularization of the terms feudalism and Byzantine Empire.
In 1763, French and Indian War: The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.
In 1798, Louis Alexandre Berthier invades Rome, proclaims a Roman Republic on February 15 and then on February 20 takes Pope Pius VI prisoner.
In 1814, Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Champaubert ends in French victory over the Russians and the Prussians.
In 1840, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
In 1846, First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon – British defeat Sikhs in final battle of the war
In 1861, Jefferson Davis is notified by telegraph that he has been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
In 1862, American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroys the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina.
In 1870, The YWCA is founded in New York City.
In 1906, HMS Dreadnought, the first of a revolutionary new breed of battleships is christened and launched by King Edward VII.
In 1920, Jozef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
In 1923, Texas Tech University is founded as Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas
In 1930, Yên Bái mutiny in French Indochina
In 1933, In round 13 of a boxing match at New York City‘s Madison Square Garden, Primo Carnera knocks out Ernie Schaaf. Schaff dies 4 days later.
In 1936, Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italian troops launched the Battle of Amba Aradam against Ethiopian defenders.
In 1939, Spanish Civil War: The Nationalists conclude their conquest of Catalonia and seal the border with France.
In 1940, The Soviet Union begins mass deportations of Polish citizens from occupied eastern Poland to Siberia.
In 1943, World War II: Attempting to completely lift the Siege of Leningrad, the Soviet Red Army engages German troops and Spanish volunteers in the Battle of Krasny Bor.
In 1947, Italy cedes most of Venezia Giulia to Yugoslavia.
In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.
In 1957, Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (b. 1867) dies. She was an American writer, most notably the author of the Little House series of children’s novels based on her childhood in a pioneer family. Her daughter Rose encouraged Laura to write and helped her to edit and publish the novels. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls was born February 7, 1867, seven miles north of the village of Pepin in the “Big Woods” of Wisconsin, to Charles Phillip Ingalls and Caroline Lake (Quiner) Ingalls. She was the second of five children, following Mary Amelia, who went blind in her teens. Their three younger siblings were Caroline Celestia; Charles Frederick, who died in infancy; and Grace Pearl. Her birth site is commemorated by a replica log cabin, the Little House Wayside. Life there formed the basis for her first book, Little House in the Big Woods.
In 1962, Captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.
In 1962, Roy Lichtenstein‘s first solo exhibition opened, and it included Look Mickey, which featured his first employment of Ben-Day dots, speech balloons and comic imagery sourcing, all of which he is now known for.
In 1964, Melbourne-Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, killing 82.
In 1967, The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
In 1981, A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel–casino kills eight and injures 198.
In 1989, Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
In 1996, The IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time.
In 1998, Voters in Maine repeal a gay rights law passed in 1997 becoming the first U.S. state to abandon such a law.
In 2000, Jim Varney, American actor (b. 1949) dies of lung cancer at age of 50. He was an American actor, comedian, musician, writer and voice artist, best known for his role as Ernest P. Worrell, who was used in numerous television commercial campaigns and movies, giving Varney fame worldwide and for playing Jed Clampett in the 1993 movie version of The Beverly Hillbillies. Varney was married twice, to Jacqueline Drew (1977–83) and Jane Varney (1988–91). Both marriages ended in divorce, though he remained friends with his ex-wife Jane until his death; she became Varney’s spokesperson and accompanied him in the 1999 film Toy Story 2. On December 06, 2013 Jim Varney’s nephew, Justin Lloyd, published a comprehensive biography about his uncle titled “The Importance of Being Ernest: The Life of Actor Jim Varney (Stuff that Vern doesn’t even know)”. During the filming of Treehouse Hostage in August 1998, Varney started developing a bad cough. At first, it was thought that he might have caught a cold because of the climate of the area where the movie was being filmed. However, as the cough became worse, Varney began noticing blood on his handkerchief and after filming was complete, he went to the doctor. A chain smoker, Varney had developed lung cancer. The disease slowly became worse, yet Varney continued to film movies. Upon being diagnosed, he reportedly threw his cigarettes away, and quit smoking. Also during this time, Varney filmed an anti-smoking public service announcement in his Ernest persona. Varney finally returned to Tennessee, where he went through chemotherapy in the hope he could beat the disease. He died on February 10, 2000 in his home in White House, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, at the age of 50. He was buried in Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky. Atlantis: The Lost Empire, which was released a year after his death, was dedicated in his memory.
In 2003, France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.
In 2009, The communication satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 collide in orbit, destroying both.
In 2009, The last several days haven’t been good for those of us that want to insure that the Stimulus bill money only go to American workers. Last week President Obama warned that buying American would be a mistake, and the Senate showed that they agreed with him by rejecting an amendment that would require that American labor would be considered before using offshored sources.
“Provisions that are going to be a violation of World Trade Organization agreements or in other ways signal protectionism – I think that would be a mistake right now,” he said. “That is a potential source of trade wars that we can t afford at a time when trade is sinking all across the globe.” — President Barack Obama
Today the Senate rejected a heroic attempt by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) to offer an amendment to the Stimulus Bill that would include E-Verify, which passed the House. Sessions tried to put e-verify in the Stimulus bill to prevent contractors from using illegal aliens instead of Americans.
Getting e-verify in the Stimulus bill was necessary because Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she strongly supports using E-Verify to confirm employees’ identities, and then promptly blocked it from being implemented on a national level.
About the only thing Americans had left was Amendment S306 by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Charles Grassley (R-IO). S306 would prevent banks who are getting TARP bailout money from hiring H-1Bs for a year. Late last week S302 was watered down to the point it’s essentially meaningless — so now we have nothing to protect American workers. The watering down occurred no less than about 24-48 hours after AILA issued their negative press release (see previous newsletter). Apparently AILA called out their emergency response team to lobby the Senate and they got the dirty job done.
In 2013, 36 people are killed and 39 injured in a stampede in Allahabad, India, during the Kumbh Mela festival.
In 2014, WNWS begins and ends a Dan Reeves, Cheap Seats, promotion of the Daytona 500 NASCAR race. Daytona 500 is a registered trademark. A trademark WNWS used to promote its show without permission.
In 2016, South Korea decides to stop the operation of the Kaesong joint industrial complex with North Korea in response to the launch of Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4.
