Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

February 10

1993
Michael Jackson announces that his skin has lightened due to a medical disorder and that he has had very little cosmetic surgery.

1993
Coca-Cola introduces its new campaign theme "Always Coca-Cola."

1992
Mike Tyson is convicted of raping beauty contestant Desiree Washington. He was sentenced to six years in prison and fined $30,000.

1967
25th Amendment: The Presidential Succession Act is ratified, designating the Speaker of the House and Senate pro tempore next in succession after the vice-president.

1964
International System (SI) of measurement (otherwise known as the metric system) is adopted by the Nation Bureau of Standards.

1962
Captured U-2 pilot Gary Powers is released by the Soviet Union in exchange for the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.

1960
The Tonight Show host Jack Paar's water closet joke is censored, causing him to walk off the show the following night.

1861
Civil War: Confederate Navy is established.

1763
French and Indian War: Treaty of Paris between England, France, and Spain is signed, ending the war.

1967
Laura Dern, American actress. Film: Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990), and Jurassic Park (1993).

1955
Kathleen Beller, American actress. TV: Dynasty (Kirby).

1950
Mark Spitz, American swimmer. He won 2 gold, 1 silver, and a bronze medal in the 1968 Olympics and 7 gold medals in the 1972 Olympics - the most ever won by a single athlete.

1944     d. 1992
Peter Allen, Oscar-winning songwriter, actor. Music: Arthur's Theme (Oscar) and I Honestly Love You (hit for Olivia Newton-John).

1939
Roberta Flack, American Grammy-winning singer. Music: Killing Me Softly with His Song (1973, Grammy).

1930
Robert Wagner, American actor. TV: It Takes a Thief (thief Al Mundy) and Hart to Hart (Jonathan Hart).

1906     d. 1973
Lon Chaney Jr. (Creighton Chaney), American horror actor, known for his monster characters such as the Wolfman, Frankenstein, and the Mummy.

1898
Dame Judith Anderson (Frances Margaret Anderson), Australian Emmy-winning actress. TV: Santa Barbara (Minx Capwell).

1893     d. 1980
Jimmy Durante, American comedian. His trademark lines include "Ink-a-Dink-a-Doo" and "Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are."

1890     d. 1960
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak, Russian author. Writings: Dr. Zhivago (1955). He rejected the 1958 Nobel Prize for literature after his nomination caused criticism from the Communist Party and his expulsion from the Soviet Writers union.

1879     d. 1946
W.C. Fields (William Claude Dukenfield), American actor. Film: You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939) and My Little Chickadee (1940).

1992     b. 1921
Alex Haley, American Pulitzer-winning author. Writings: Roots (Pulitzer. It had the largest printing for a hard-cover book in U.S. history). In 1978, Haley admitted that he copied large passages of Roots from The African by Harold Courlander and settled out-of-court for $650,000.

1966     b. 1899
Billy Rose (William Samuel Rosenberg), American songwriter. Music: Me and My Shadow and It's Only a Paper Moon.

1957     b. 1867
Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author. Her Little House books about her life on the frontier was the basis for the TV series.

1948     b. 1898
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein, Russian film director, one of the greatest directors of his time. He developed the montage style of editing.

1939     b. 1857
Pius XI, Italian religious leader, 259th Pope (1922-39), created the Vatican radio station.

1923     b. 1845
Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen, German physicist, discovered X-rays (1895). He died of cancer.

1912     b. 1827
Joseph Lister, English physician, founder of antiseptic surgery. He performed the first operation using antiseptic (1867, mastectomy on his sister).

1868     b. 1781
Sir David Brewster, Scottish scientist and inventor. He patented a kaleidoscope (1817), popularizing its use and instituted the use of flat Fresnel lenses in lighthouses, and discovered many important aspects of polarized light.

1829     b. 1760
Leo XII, Italian religious leader, 252nd Pope (1823-29).

1045     b. ????
Sylvester III, Italian religious leader, 146th Pope (Jan. - Feb. 1045). Became pope when Pope Benedict IX was forcibly removed. Benedict IX reassumed the papacy upon Sylvester's death.

543     b. ????
Saint Scholastica, patron saint of scholars.

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