Today is Friday, February 10, 2017.
- Sunrise: 7:05am
- Sunset: 5:44pm
giving us 11 hours and 32 minutes of visible light
98% of the waxing gibbous moon will be visible, rising at 6:48pm
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 10:37am
- Low: 4:27am/5:10pm
Special international celebrations today:
- Oruro Local Festival - Bolivia
- St. Paul's Shipwreck (Feast of ) – Malta
It’s also…
- Plimsoll Day
- All The News That's Fit To Print Day
- National Cream Cheese Brownie Day
On this day in…
1763 - The Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War. In the treaty France ceded Canada to England.
1840 - Britain's Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg-Gotha.
1846 - Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began their exodus to the west from Illinois.
1863 - In New York City, two of the world’s most famous midgets, General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren were married.
1863 - The fire extinguisher was patented by Alanson Crane.
1870 - The city of Anaheim was incorporated for the first time.
1870 - The YWCA was founded in New York City.
1879 - The electric arc light was used for the first time.
1897 - "The New York Times" began printing "All the news that's fit to print" on their front page.
1920 - Major league baseball representatives outlawed pitches that involve tampering with the ball.
1923 - Ink paste was manufactured for the first time by the Standard Ink Company.
1925 - The first waterless gas storage tank was placed in service in Michigan City, IN.
1933 - The singing telegram was introduced by the Postal Telegraph Company of New York City.
1933 - Primo Carnera knocked out Ernie Schaaf in round 13 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Schaaf died as a result of the knockout punch.
1934 - The first imperforated, ungummed sheets of postage stamps were issued by the U.S. Postal Service in New York City.
1935 - The Pennsylvania Railroad began passenger service with its electric locomotive. The engine was 79-1/2 feet long and weighed 230 tons.
1942 - The Normandie, the former French liner, capsized in New York Harbor. The day before the ship had caught fire while it was being fitted for the U.S. Navy.
1949 - "Death of a Salesman" opened at the Morocco Theatre in New York City.
1962 - The Soviet Union exchanged capture American U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for the Soviet spy Rudolph Ivanovich Abel being held by the U.S.
1967 - The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The amendment required the appointment of a vice-president when that office became vacant and instituted new measures in the event of presidential disability.
1975 - The U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp that featured NASA's Pioneer 10 spacecraft.
1981 - The Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino caught fire. Eight people were killed and 198 were injured.
1989 - Ron Brown became the first African American to head a major U.S. political party when he was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
1990 - South African President F.W. de Klerk announced that black activist Nelson Mandela would be released the next day after 27 years in captivity.
1992 - Mike Tyson was convicted in Indianapolis of raping Desiree Washington, Miss Black American contestant.
1997 - The U.S. Army suspended its top-ranking enlisted soldier, Army Sgt. Major Gene McKinney following allegations of sexual misconduct. McKinney was convicted of obstruction of justice and acquitted of 18 counts alleging sexual harassment of six military women.
1998 - A man became the first to be convicted of committing a hate crime in cyberspace. The college dropout had e-mailed threats to Asian students.
1998 - Voters in Maine repealed a 1997 gay rights law. Maine was the first state to abandon such legislation.
1999 - Avalanches killed at least 10 people when they roared down the French Alps 30 miles from Geneva.
2005 - North Korea publicly announced for the first time that it had nuclear arms. The country also rejected attempts to restart disarmament talks in the near future saying that it needed the weapons as protection against an increasingly hostile United States.
2009 - A Russian and an American satellite collide over Siberia.
Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)…
- Charles Lamb 1775
- Samuel Plimsoll 1824
- William Allen White 1868
- Boris Pasternak 1890
- Jimmy Durante 1893
- Maurice Harold Macmillan 1894 - British Prime Minister from 1957-1963
- Bertolt Brecht 1898 - Dramatist, poet
- Dame Judith Anderson 1898
- Lon Chaney, Jr. 1905
- Larry Adler 1914
- Allie Reynolds 1919
- Neva Patterson 1922
- Leontyne Price 1927
- Jerry Goldsmith 1929
- Robert Wagner 1930- Actor ("Hart to Hart")
- James E. West 1931
- Don Wilson (The Ventures) 1937
- Roberta Flack 1939- Singer
- Jimmy Merchant 1940- Singer (Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers)
- Ral Donner 1943
- Frances Moore Lappé 1944
- Mark Spitz 1950- Olympic gold-medal swimmer
- Greg Norman 1955
- Kathleen Beller 1955
- Lionel Cartwright 1960
- George Stephanopoulos 1961- Broadcast journalist
- Cliff Burton 1962 - Musician (Metallica)
- Laura Dern 1967- Actress
- Dude Mowrey 1972
- Elizabeth Banks (Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell) 1974- Actress
