Events

Pre-1600

  • 1258 – The Siege of Baghdad ends with the surrender of the last Abbasid caliph to Hulegu Khan, a prince of the Mongol Empire.
  • 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, sparking the revolution in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
  • 1355 – The St Scholastica Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days.
  • 1392 – Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos marries Helena Dragaš, daughter of the Serbian Prince Constantine Dragaš. She is crowned as empress the following day.
  • 1502 – Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India.
  • 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.

1601–1900

  • 1712 – Huilliches in Chiloé rebel against Spanish encomenderos.
  • 1763 – French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.
  • 1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Champaubert ends in French victory over the Russians and the Prussians.
  • 1840 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
  • 1846 – First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon: British defeat Sikhs in the final battle of the war.
  • 1861 – Jefferson Davis is notified by telegraph that he has been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
  • 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.

1901–present

  • 1906 – , the first of a revolutionary new breed of battleships, is christened.
  • 1920 – Józef Haller de Hallenburg performs the symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
  • 1920 – About 75% of the population in Zone I votes to join Denmark in the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites.
  • 1923 – Texas Tech University is founded as Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas.
  • 1930 – The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng launches the failed Yên Bái mutiny in hope of overthrowing French protectorate over Vietnam.
  • 1933 – In round 13 of a boxing match at New York City's Madison Square Garden, Primo Carnera knocks out Ernie Schaaf. Schaaf dies four days later.
  • 1936 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italian troops launch the Battle of Amba Aradam against Ethiopian defenders.
  • 1939 – Spanish Civil War: The Nationalists conclude their conquest of Catalonia and seal the border with France.
  • 1940 – The Soviet Union begins mass deportations of Polish citizens from occupied eastern Poland to Siberia.
  • 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.
  • 1947 – The Paris Peace Treaties are signed by Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland and the Allies of World War II.
  • 1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.
  • 1962 – Cold War: Captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.
  • 1964 – Melbourne–Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier collides with and sinks the destroyer off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, killing 82.
  • 1967 – The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
  • 1972 – Ras Al Khaimah joins the United Arab Emirates, now making up seven emirates.
  • 1984 – Kenyan soldiers kill an estimated 5,000 ethnic Somali Kenyans in the Wagalla massacre.
  • 1989 – Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee, becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
  • 1996 – IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time.
  • 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.
  • 2004 – Forty-three people are killed and three are injured when a Fokker 50 crashes near Sharjah International Airport.
  • 2009 – The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collide in orbit, destroying both.
  • 2013 – Thirty-six people are killed and 39 others are injured in a stampede in Allahabad, India, during the Kumbh Mela festival.
  • 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.
  • 2018 – Nineteen people are killed and 66 injured when a Kowloon Motor Bus double decker on route 872 in Hong Kong overturns.
  • 2021 – The traditional Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is canceled for the first time because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • 2021 – Texas' worst energy infrastructure failure, the 2021 Texas power crisis, starts.
  • 2026 – Shootings at a residence and a school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, leave nine people dead and 27 injured.

Births

Pre-1600

  • 1486 – George of the Palatinate, German bishop (died 1529)
  • 1499 – Thomas Platter, Swiss author and scholar (died 1582)
  • 1514 – Domenico Bollani, Bishop of Brescia (died 1579)

1601–1900

  • 1606 – Christine of France, Duchess of Savoy (died 1663)
  • 1609 – John Suckling, English poet and playwright (died 1642)
  • 1627 – Cornelis de Bie, Flemish poet and jurist (died 1715)
  • 1685 – Aaron Hill, English poet and playwright (died 1750)
  • 1696 – Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (died 1765)
  • 1766 – Benjamin Smith Barton, American botanist and physician (died 1815)
  • 1775 – Charles Lamb, English poet and essayist (died 1834)
  • 1785 – Claude-Louis Navier, French physicist and engineer (died 1836)
  • 1795 – Ary Scheffer, Dutch-French painter and academic (died 1858)
  • 1797 – George Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall (died 1883)
  • 1821 – Roberto Bompiani, Italian painter and sculptor (died 1908)
  • 1824 – Samuel Plimsoll, English merchant and politician (died 1898)
  • 1829 – Julius von Szymanowski, Russian surgeon of Polish-German origin (died 1868)
  • 1842 – Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author (died 1907)
  • 1843 – Adelina Patti, Italian-French opera singer (died 1919)
  • 1846 – Lord Charles Beresford, Irish admiral and politician (died 1919)
  • 1846 – Ira Remsen, American chemist and academic (died 1927)
  • 1847 – Nabinchandra Sen, Bangladeshi poet and author (died 1909)
  • 1859 – Alexandre Millerand, French lawyer and politician, 12th President of France (died 1943)
  • 1867 – Robert Garran, Australian lawyer and public servant (died 1957)
  • 1868 – Prince Waldemar of Prussia (died 1879)
  • 1868 – William Allen White, American journalist and author (died 1944)
  • 1869 – Royal Cortissoz, American art critic (died 1948)
  • 1879 – Ernst Põdder, Estonian general (died 1932)
  • 1881 – Pauline Brunius, Swedish actress and director (died 1954)
  • 1883 – Edith Clarke, American electrical engineer (died 1959)
  • 1883 – H. V. Hordern, Australian cricketer (died 1938)
  • 1888 – Giuseppe Ungaretti, Egyptian-Italian soldier, journalist, and poet (died 1970)
  • 1890 – Fanny Kaplan, Ukrainian-Russian activist (died 1918)
  • 1890 – Boris Pasternak, Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator Nobel Prize laureate (died 1960)
  • 1892 – Alan Hale Sr., American actor and director (died 1950)
  • 1893 – Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer, and pianist (died 1980)
  • 1893 – Bill Tilden, American tennis player and coach (died 1953)
  • 1894 – Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1986)
  • 1897 – Judith Anderson, Australian actress (died 1992)
  • 1897 – John Franklin Enders, American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1985)
  • 1898 – Bertolt Brecht, German director, playwright, and poet (died 1956)
  • 1898 – Joseph Kessel, French journalist and author (died 1979)
  • 1899 – Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey (died 1982)

1901–present

  • 1901 – Stella Adler, American actress and educator (died 1992)
  • 1902 – Walter Houser Brattain, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1987)
  • 1903 – Waldemar Hoven, German physician (died 1948)
  • 1903 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer and manager (died 1939)
  • 1904 – John Farrow, Australian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1963)
  • 1905 – Walter A. Brown, American businessman, founded the Boston Celtics (died 1964)
  • 1905 – Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (died 1939)
  • 1906 – Lon Chaney Jr., American actor (died 1973)
  • 1907 – Anthony Cottrell, New Zealand rugby player (died 1988)
  • 1908 – Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer and educator (died 2000)
  • 1909 – Min Thu Wun, Burmese poet, scholar, and politician (died 2004)
  • 1910 – Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1969)
  • 1935 – Theodore Antoniou, Greek composer and conductor (died 2018)
  • 1935 – Barbara Maier Gustern, American vocal coach and singer (died 2022)
  • 1937 – Anne Anderson, Scottish physiologist and academic (died 1983)
  • 1937 – Roberta Flack, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2025)
  • 1939 – Adrienne Clarkson, Hong Kong-Canadian journalist and politician, 26th Governor General of Canada
  • 1939 – Deolinda Rodríguez de Almeida, Angolan nationalist (died 1967)
  • 1940 – Mary Rand, English sprinter and long jumper (died 2026)
  • 1940 – Kenny Rankin, American singer-songwriter (died 2009)
  • 1941 – Michael Apted, English director and producer (died 2021)
  • 1941 – Dick Carlson, American journalist and diplomat (died 2025)
  • 1944 – Peter Allen, Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (died 1992)
  • 1944 – Frank Keating, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Oklahoma
  • 1944 – Frances Moore Lappé, American author and activist
  • 1944 – Rufus Reid, American bassist and composer
  • 1945 – Delma S. Arrigoitia, Puerto Rican historian, author, educator and lawyer (died 2023)
  • 1945 – Glynn Saulters, American basketball player
  • 1946 – Dick Anderson, American football player
  • 1947 – Louise Arbour, Canadian lawyer and jurist
  • 1947 – Butch Morris, American cornet player, composer, and conductor (died 2013)
  • 1947 – Nicholas Owen, English journalist
  • 1949 – Nigel Olsson, English rock drummer and singer-songwriter
  • 1950 – Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta, Mexican economist and politician (died 1994)
  • 1950 – Mark Spitz, American swimmer
  • 1955 – Greg Norman, Australian golfer and sportscaster
  • 1959 – John Calipari, American basketball player and coach
  • 1960 – Jim Kent, American biologist, computer programmer, academic
  • 1961 – Alexander Payne, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1961 – George Stephanopoulos, American television journalist
  • 1962 – Randy Velischek, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1963 – Lenny Dykstra, American baseball player
  • 1964 – Glenn Beck, American journalist, producer, and author
  • 1967 – Laura Dern, American actress, director, and producer
  • 1970 – Åsne Seierstad, Norwegian journalist and author
  • 1971 – Lorena Rojas, Mexican actress and singer (died 2015)
  • 1972 – Michael Kasprowicz, Australian cricketer
  • 1973 – Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, English businesswoman and politician
  • 1974 – Elizabeth Banks, American actress
  • 1975 – Tina Thompson, American basketball player and coach
  • 1976 – Lance Berkman, American baseball player and coach
  • 1976 – Keeley Hawes, English actress
  • 1977 – Salif Diao, Senegalese footballer
  • 1978 – Don Omar, Puerto Rican rapper, singer, producer, and actor
  • 1979 – Joey Hand, American race car driver
  • 1980 – César Izturis, Venezuelan baseball player
  • 1980 – Enzo Maresca, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1980 – Mike Ribeiro, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Bruno Šundov, Croatian basketball player
  • 1981 – Uzo Aduba, American actress
  • 1981 – Barry Sloane, English actor
  • 1985 – Selçuk İnan, Turkish footballer
  • 1985 – Paul Millsap, American basketball player
  • 1986 – Jeff Adrien, American basketball player
  • 1986 – Josh Akognon, American basketball player
  • 1986 – Radamel Falcao, Colombian footballer
  • 1986 – Nahuel Guzmán, Argentine footballer
  • 1986 – Roberto Jiménez, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Viktor Troicki, Serbian tennis player
  • 1987 – Justin Braun, American ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Jakub Kindl, Czech ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Facundo Roncaglia, Argentine footballer
  • 1988 – Francesco Acerbi, Italian footballer
  • 1989 – Travis d'Arnaud, American baseball player
  • 1989 – Liam Hendriks, Australian baseball player
  • 1989 – Birgit Skarstein, Norwegian Paralympic athlete and social entrepreneur
  • 1990 – Yuri Berchiche, Spanish footballer
  • 1990 – Trevante Rhodes, American actor
  • 1991 – C. J. Anderson, American football player
  • 1991 – Rebecca Dempster, Scottish footballer
  • 1991 – Emma Roberts, American actress
  • 1993 – Max Kepler, German-American baseball player
  • 1993 – Luis Madrigal, Mexican footballer
  • 1993 – Filip Twardzik, Czech footballer
  • 1994 – Son Na-eun, South Korean singer and actress
  • 1994 – Kang Seul-gi, South Korean singer
  • 1994 – Makenzie Vega, American actress
  • 1995 – Sterling Brown, American basketball player
  • 1995 – Bobby Portis, American basketball player
  • 1995 – Carolane Soucisse, Canadian ice dancer
  • 1995 – Lexi Thompson, American golfer
  • 1995 – Naby Keïta, Guinean footballer
  • 1996 – Alexandar Georgiev, Bulgarian-Russian ice hockey player
  • 1996 – Emanuel Mammana, Argentine footballer
  • 1997 – Josh Jackson, American basketball player
  • 1997 – Lilly King, American swimmer
  • 1997 – Chloë Grace Moretz, American actress
  • 1997 – Josh Rosen, American football player
  • 1997 – Adam Armstrong, English footballer
  • 1999 – Tiffany Espensen, American actress
  • 2000 – Yara Shahidi, American actress and model
  • 2009 – Antonio Arena, Italian footballer

Deaths

Pre-1600

  • 547 – Scholastica, Christian nun
  • 1127 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (born 1071)
  • 1163 – Baldwin III of Jerusalem (born 1130)
  • 1242 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (born 1231)
  • 1280 – Margaret II, Countess of Flanders (born 1202)
  • 1306 – John "the Red" Comyn, Scottish nobleman
  • 1307 – Temür Khan, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan (born 1265)
  • 1346 – Blessed Clare of Rimini (born 1282)
  • 1471 – Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg (born 1413)
  • 1524 – Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria (born 1468)
  • 1526 – John V, Count of Oldenburg, German noble (born 1460)
  • 1567 – Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots (born 1545)
  • 1576 – Wilhelm Xylander, German scholar, translator, and academic (born 1532)

1601–1900

  • 1660 – Judith Leyster, Dutch painter (born 1609)
  • 1686 – William Dugdale, English genealogist and historian (born 1605)
  • 1752 – Henriette of France, French Princess (born1727)
  • 1755 – Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher (born 1689)
  • 1782 – Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian and author (born 1702)
  • 1829 – Pope Leo XII (born 1760)
  • 1831 – Peter Heywood, British naval officer (born 1772)
  • 1837 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet and author (born 1799)
  • 1846 – Maria Aletta Hulshoff, Dutch feminist and pamphleteer (born 1781)
  • 1854 – José Joaquín de Herrera, Mexican politician and general (born 1792)
  • 1857 – David Thompson, English-Canadian surveyor and explorer (born 1770)
  • 1865 – Heinrich Lenz, Estonian-Italian physicist and academic (born 1804)
  • 1879 – Honoré Daumier, French illustrator and painter (born 1808)
  • 1887 – Ellen Wood, English author (born 1814)
  • 1891 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian-Swedish mathematician and physicist (born 1850)

1901–present

  • 1904 – John A. Roche, American lawyer and politician, 30th Mayor of Chicago (born 1844)
  • 1906 – Ezra Butler Eddy, American-Canadian businessman and politician (born 1827)
  • 1912 – Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, English surgeon and academic (born 1827)
  • 1913 – Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, Greek long jumper (born 1888)
  • 1917 – John William Waterhouse, English painter (born 1849)
  • 1918 – Abdul Hamid II, Ottoman sultan (born 1842)
  • 1918 – Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian soldier and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1833)
  • 1920 – Henry Strangways, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of South Australia (born 1832)
  • 1923 – Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1845)
  • 1928 – José Sánchez del Río, Mexican martyr and saint (born 1913)
  • 1932 – Edgar Wallace, English author and screenwriter (born 1875)
  • 1939 – Pope Pius XI (born 1857)
  • 1944 – E. M. Antoniadi, Greek-French astronomer and chess player (born 1870)
  • 1945 – Anacleto Díaz, Filipino lawyer and jurist (born 1878)
  • 1950 – Marcel Mauss, French sociologist and anthropologist (born 1872)
  • 1956 – Leonora Speyer, American poet and violinist (born 1872)
  • 1956 – Emmanouil Tsouderos, Greek banker and politician, 132nd Prime Minister of Greece (born 1882)
  • 1957 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (born 1867)
  • 1960 – Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (born 1898)
  • 1966 – Billy Rose, American composer and songwriter (born 1899)
  • 1967 – Dionysios Kokkinos, Greek historian and author (born 1884)
  • 1975 – Nikos Kavvadias, Greek sailor and poet (born 1910)
  • 1979 – Edvard Kardelj, Slovene general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia (born 1910)
  • 1992 – Alex Haley, American soldier, journalist, and author (born 1921)
  • 1993 – Fred Hollows, New Zealand-Australian ophthalmologist and academic (born 1929)
  • 1995 – Paul Monette, American author, poet, and activist (born 1945)
  • 1997 – Brian Connolly, Scottish musician (born 1945)
  • 2000 – Jim Varney, American actor, comedian and writer (born 1949)
  • 2001 – Abraham Beame, American academic and politician, 104th Mayor of New York City (born 1906)
  • 2001 – Buddy Tate, American saxophonist and clarinet player (born 1913)
  • 2002 – Dave Van Ronk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1936)
  • 2003 – Edgar de Evia, Mexican-American photographer (born 1910)
  • 2003 – Albert J. Ruffo, American lawyer and politician, Mayor of San Jose (born 1908)
  • 2003 – Ron Ziegler, American politician, 14th White House Press Secretary (born 1939)
  • 2005 – Arthur Miller, American actor, playwright, and author (born 1915)
  • 2006 – James Yancey, American record producer and rapper (born 1974)
  • 2008 – Roy Scheider, American actor and boxer (born 1932)
  • 2010 – Fred Schaus, American basketball player and coach (born 1925)
  • 2010 – Charles Wilson, American lieutenant and politician (born 1933)
  • 2011 – Trevor Bailey, English cricketer and journalist (born 1923)
  • 2012 – Lloyd Morrison, New Zealand banker and businessman, founded H. R. L. Morrison & Co (born 1957)
  • 2012 – Jeffrey Zaslow, American journalist and author (born 1958)
  • 2013 – W. Watts Biggers, American author, screenwriter, and animator (born 1927)
  • 2013 – David Hartman, American-Israeli rabbi and philosopher, founded the Shalom Hartman Institute (born 1931)
  • 2014 – Stuart Hall, Jamaican-English sociologist and theorist (born 1932)
  • 2014 – Shirley Temple, American actress and diplomat (born 1928)
  • 2015 – Naseer Aruri, Palestinian scholar and activist (born 1934)
  • 2015 – Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal and theologian (born 1928)
  • 2015 – Deng Liqun, Chinese theorist and politician (born 1915)
  • 2016 – Fatima Surayya Bajia, Indian-Pakistani author and playwright (born 1930)
  • 2017 – Mike Ilitch, American businessman (born 1929)
  • 2019 – Carmen Argenziano, American actor (born 1943)
  • 2019 – Jan-Michael Vincent, American actor (born 1944)
  • 2021 – Larry Flynt, American publisher (born 1942)
  • 2022 – Olsen Filipaina, New Zealand rugby league player (born 1957)
  • 2023 – AKA, South African rapper (born 1988)
  • 2025 – Peter Tuiasosopo, American football player and actor (born 1963)
  • 2026 – Jose de Venecia Jr., Filipino politician and journalist, 17th and 21st Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives (born 1936)

Holidays and observances

  • Christian feast day:
  • Austrebertha
  • Charalambos

References

  • BBC: On This Day
  • Historical Events on February 10