Today is Friday, Feb. 10, the 41st day of 2017. There are 324 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Feb. 10, 1967, the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, dealing with presidential disability and succession, was ratified as Minnesota and Nevada adopted it.
On this date:
In 1763, Britain, Spain and France signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the Seven Years’ War (also known as the French and Indian War in North America).
In 1840, Britain’s Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
In 1936, Nazi Germany’s Reichstag passed a law investing the Gestapo secret police with absolute authority exempt from any legal review.
In 1942, RCA Victor presented Glenn Miller and his Orchestra with a “gold record” for their recording of “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” which had sold more than 1 million copies.
In 1949, Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” opened at Broadway’s Morosco Theater with Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman.
In 1959, a major tornado tore through the St. Louis area, killing 21 people and causing heavy damage.
In 1962, the Soviet Union exchanged captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for Rudolf Abel, a Soviet spy held by the United States. Republican George W. Romney announced his ultimately successful candidacy for governor of Michigan.
In 1966, the Jacqueline Susann novel “Valley of the Dolls” was published by Bernard Geis Associates.
In 1968, U.S. figure skater Peggy Fleming won America’s only gold medal of the Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, France.
In 1981, eight people were killed when a fire set by a busboy broke out at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino.
In 1992, boxer Mike Tyson was convicted in Indianapolis of raping Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant. (Tyson served three years in prison.) Author Alex Haley died in Seattle at age 70.
In 2005, playwright Arthur Miller died in Roxbury, Connecticut, at age 89 on the 56th anniversary of the Broadway opening of “Death of a Salesman.”
Ten years ago: Less than a month after launching his presidential bid online, Barack Obama announced his candidacy in person, telling thousands outside the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois: “Let us transform this nation.” Gen. David Petraeus took charge of U.S. forces in Iraq. The AFC defeated the NFC 31-28 in the Pro Bowl.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama, under fierce election-year fire, abruptly abandoned his stand that religious organizations had to pay for birth control for workers, demanding that insurance companies step in to provide the coverage instead.
One year ago: Senate Democrats and Republicans united behind tougher sanctions on North Korea for violating international law by pursuing nuclear weapons. President Barack Obama took a nostalgic trip to the Illinois capital of Springfield where he launched his national political career nine years earlier. For the 15th time, officials denied parole for Sirhan Sirhan, the assassin of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
Today’s Birthdays: Opera singer Leontyne Price is 90. Actor Robert Wagner is 87. Rock musician Don Wilson (The Ventures) is 84. Author and critic Richard Schickel is 84. Singer Roberta Flack is 80. Singer Jimmy Merchant (Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers) is 77. Rock musician Bob Spalding (The Ventures) is 70. Olympic gold-medal swimmer Mark Spitz is 67. Walt Disney Co. chairman and chief executive Robert Iger is 66. Rock musician and composer Cory Lerios (Pablo Cruise) is 66. World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman is 62. Actress Kathleen Beller is 61. Country singer Lionel Cartwright is 57. Movie director Alexander Payne is 56. ABC News correspondent George Stephanopoulos is 56. Retired MLB All-Star Lenny Dykstra is 54. Political commentator Glenn Beck is 53. Actress Laura Dern is 50. Country singer Dude Mowrey is 45. Actor Jason Olive is 45. Actress Elizabeth Banks is 43. Pop singer Rosanna Taverez (Eden’s Crush) is 40. Actress Julia Pace Mitchell is 39. Reggaeton singer Don Omar is 39. Country musician Jeremy Baxter (Carolina Rain) is 37. Actress Uzo Aduba is 36. Actor Max Brown is 36. Actor Barry Sloane is 36. Rock singer Eric Dill is 35. Rock musician Ben Romans (The Click Five) is 35. Actor Trevante Rhodes (Film: “Moonlight”) is 27. Actress Emma Roberts is 26. Actress Makenzie Vega is 23. Actress Chloe Grace Moretz is 20. Actress Yara Shahidi is 17.
Thought for Today: “Be nice to people on the way up. They’re the same people you’ll pass on the way down.” — Jimmy Durante, American comedian (born this day in 1893, died 1980).
