February 10
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.
- 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
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.
- 2023 – Hogwarts Legacy, one of the best-selling video games of all time, is first released.
Births
Pre-1600
1601–1900
- 1606 - Christine of France, Duchess of Savoy
- 1609 - John Suckling, English poet and playwright
- 1627 - Cornelis de Bie, Flemish poet and jurist
- 1685 - Aaron Hill, English poet and playwright
- 1696 - Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer
- 1766 - Benjamin Smith Barton, American botanist and physician
- 1775 - Charles Lamb, English poet and essayist
- 1785 - Claude-Louis Navier, French physicist and engineer
- 1795 - Ary Scheffer, Dutch-French painter and academic
- 1797 - George Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall
- 1821 - Roberto Bompiani, Italian painter and sculptor
- 1824 - Samuel Plimsoll, English merchant and politician
- 1829 - Julius von Szymanowski, Russian surgeon of Polish-German origin
- 1842 - Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author
- 1843 - Adelina Patti, Italian-French opera singer
- 1846 - Lord Charles Beresford, Irish admiral and politician
- 1846 - Ira Remsen, American chemist and academic
- 1847 - Nabinchandra Sen, Bangladeshi poet and author
- 1859 - Alexandre Millerand, French lawyer and politician, 12th President of France
- 1867 - Robert Garran, Australian lawyer and public servant
- 1868 - Prince Waldemar of Prussia
- 1868 - William Allen White, American journalist and author
- 1869 - Royal Cortissoz, American art critic
- 1879 - Ernst Põdder, Estonian general
- 1881 - Pauline Brunius, Swedish actress and director
- 1883 - Edith Clarke, American electrical engineer
- 1883 - H. V. Hordern, Australian cricketer
- 1888 - Giuseppe Ungaretti, Egyptian-Italian soldier, journalist, and poet
- 1890 - Fanny Kaplan, Ukrainian-Russian activist
- 1890 - Boris Pasternak, Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator Nobel Prize laureate
- 1892 - Alan Hale Sr., American actor and director
- 1893 - Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer, and pianist
- 1893 - Bill Tilden, American tennis player and coach
- 1894 - Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1897 - Judith Anderson, Australian actress
- 1897 - John Franklin Enders, American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1898 - Bertolt Brecht, German director, playwright, and poet
- 1898 - Joseph Kessel, French journalist and author
- 1899 - Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey
1901–present
- 1901 - Stella Adler, American actress and educator
- 1902 - Walter Houser Brattain, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1903 - Waldemar Hoven, German physician
- 1903 - Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer and manager
- 1904 - John Farrow, Australian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1905 - Walter A. Brown, American businessman, founded the Boston Celtics
- 1905 - Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader
- 1906 - Lon Chaney Jr., American actor
- 1907 - Anthony Cottrell, New Zealand rugby player
- 1908 - Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer and educator
- 1909 - Min Thu Wun, Burmese poet, scholar, and politician
- 1910 - Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1914 - Larry Adler, American harmonica player, composer, and actor
- 1915 - Vladimir Zeldin, Russian actor
- 1919 - Ioannis Charalambopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece
- 1920 - José Manuel Castañón, Spanish lawyer and author
- 1920 - Alex Comfort, English physician and author
- 1920 - Neva Patterson, American actress
- 1922 - Árpád Göncz, Hungarian author, playwright, and politician, 1st President of Hungary
- 1922 - José Gabriel da Costa, Brazilian spiritual leader, founder of the União do Vegetal
- 1923 - Allie Sherman, American football player and coach
- 1924 - Max Ferguson, Canadian radio host and actor
- 1924 - Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1925 - Pierre Mondy, French actor and director
- 1926 - Sidney Bryan Berry, American general
- 1926 - Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish soldier, footballer and manager
- 1927 - Leontyne Price, American operatic soprano
- 1929 - Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor
- 1929 - Jim Whittaker, American mountaineer
- 1929 - Lou Whittaker, American mountaineer
- 1930 - E. L. Konigsburg, American author and illustrator
- 1930 - Robert Wagner, American actor and producer
- 1931 - James West, American inventor and acoustician
- 1932 - Barrie Ingham, English-American actor
- 1933 - Faramarz Payvar, Iranian musician and composer
- 1933 - Richard Schickel, American journalist, author, and critic
- 1934 - Fleur Adcock, New Zealand poet
- 1935 - Theodore Antoniou, Greek composer and conductor
- 1935 - Barbara Maier Gustern, American vocal coach and singer
- 1937 - Anne Anderson, Scottish physiologist and academic
- 1937 - Roberta Flack, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1939 - Adrienne Clarkson, Hong Kong-Canadian journalist and politician, 26th Governor General of Canada
- 1939 - Deolinda Rodríguez de Almeida, Angolan nationalist
- 1940 - Mary Rand, English sprinter and long jumper
- 1940 - Kenny Rankin, American singer-songwriter
- 1941 - Michael Apted, English director and producer
- 1941 - Dick Carlson, American journalist and diplomat
- 1944 - Peter Allen, Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor
- 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
- 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
- 1947 - Nicholas Owen, English journalist
- 1949 - Nigel Olsson, English rock drummer and singer-songwriter
- 1950 - Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta, Mexican economist and politician
- 1950 - Mark Spitz, American swimmer
- 1951 - Bob Iger, American media executive
- 1952 - Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean general and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Singapore
- 1955 - Jim Cramer, American television personality, pundit, and author
- 1955 - Tom LaGarde, American basketball player
- 1955 - Greg Norman, Australian golfer and sportscaster
- 1956 - Kathleen Beller, American actress
- 1956 - James Martin Graham, American Roman Catholic priest
- 1956 - Enele Sopoaga, Tuvaluan politician, 12th Prime Minister of Tuvalu
- 1957 - Katherine Freese, American astrophysicist and academic
- 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 - Cliff Burton, American musician and songwriter
- 1962 - Bobby Czyz, American boxer and commentator
- 1962 - Randy Velischek, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1963 - Lenny Dykstra, American baseball player
- 1964 - Glenn Beck, American journalist, producer, and author
- 1966 - Natalie Bennett, Australian-English journalist and politician
- 1966 - Daryl Johnston, American football player and sportscaster
- 1967 - Laura Dern, American actress, director, and producer
- 1967 - Jacky Durand, French cyclist and sportscaster
- 1967 - Vince Gilligan, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1968 - Peter Popovic, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
- 1968 - Garrett Reisman, American engineer and astronaut
- 1969 - Joe Mangrum, American painter and sculptor
- 1969 - James Small, South African rugby player
- 1970 - Melissa Doyle, Australian journalist and author
- 1970 - Noureddine Naybet, Moroccan international footballer and manager
- 1970 - Åsne Seierstad, Norwegian journalist and author
- 1971 - Lorena Rojas, Mexican actress and singer
- 1972 - Michael Kasprowicz, Australian cricketer
- 1973 - Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, English businesswoman and politician
- 1974 - Elizabeth Banks, American actress
- 1974 - Ty Law, American football player
- 1974 - Ivri Lider, Israeli singer
- 1974 - Henry Paul, New Zealand rugby player and coach
- 1975 - Hiroki Kuroda, Japanese baseball player
- 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
- 1980 - Mike Ribeiro, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 - Bruno Šundov, Croatian basketball player
- 1981 - Uzo Aduba, American actress
- 1981 - Stephanie Beatriz, American actress
- 1981 - Max Brown, English actor
- 1981 - Andrew Johnson, English footballer
- 1981 - Barry Sloane, English actor
- 1981 - Holly Willoughby, English model and television host
- 1982 - Hamad Al-Tayyar, Kuwaiti footballer
- 1982 - Justin Gatlin, American sprinter
- 1982 - Tarmo Neemelo, Estonian footballer
- 1982 - Iafeta Paleaaesina, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1983 - Vic Fuentes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1984 - Greg Bird, Australian rugby league player
- 1984 - Alex Gordon, American baseball player
- 1984 - Kim Hyo-jin, South Korean actress
- 1984 - Zaza Pachulia, Georgian basketball player
- 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 - Roberto Jiménez Gago, 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 - Trevante Rhodes, American actor
- 1990 - Choi Soo-young, South Korean singer-songwriter, actress, and dancer
- 1991 - C. J. Anderson, American football player
- 1991 - Rebecca Dempster, Scottish footballer
- 1991 - Emma Roberts, American actress
- 1992 - Haruka Nakagawa, Japanese singer and actress
- 1992 - Reinhold Yabo, German footballer
- 1993 - Yasser Ibrahim, Egyptian footballer
- 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
- 1994 - Miguel Almirón, Paraguayan footballer
- 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 - Nadia Podoroska, Argentine tennis player
- 1997 - Josh Rosen, American football player
- 1997 - Adam Armstrong, English footballer
- 1999 - Tiffany Espensen, American actress
- 2000 - María Carlé, Argentine tennis player
- 2000 - Yara Shahidi, American actress and model
Deaths
Pre-1600
- 547 - Scholastica, Christian nun
- 1127 - William IX, Duke of Aquitaine
- 1163 - Baldwin III of Jerusalem
- 1242 - Emperor Shijō of Japan
- 1280 - Margaret II, Countess of Flanders
- 1306 - John "the Red" Comyn, Scottish nobleman
- 1307 - Temür Khan, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan
- 1346 - Blessed Clare of Rimini
- 1471 - Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg
- 1524 - Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria
- 1526 - John V, Count of Oldenburg, German noble
- 1567 - Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots
- 1576 - Wilhelm Xylander, German scholar, translator, and academic
1601–1900
- 1660 - Judith Leyster, Dutch painter
- 1686 - William Dugdale, English genealogist and historian
- 1752 - Henriette of France, French Princess
- 1755 - Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher
- 1782 - Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian and author
- 1829 - Pope Leo XII
- 1831 - Peter Heywood, British naval officer
- 1837 - Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet and author
- 1846 - Maria Aletta Hulshoff, Dutch feminist and pamphleteer
- 1854 - José Joaquín de Herrera, Mexican politician and general
- 1857 - David Thompson, English-Canadian surveyor and explorer
- 1865 - Heinrich Lenz, Estonian-Italian physicist and academic
- 1879 - Honoré Daumier, French illustrator and painter
- 1887 - Ellen Wood, English author
- 1891 - Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian-Swedish mathematician and physicist
1901–present
- 1904 - John A. Roche, American lawyer and politician, 30th Mayor of Chicago
- 1906 - Ezra Butler Eddy, American-Canadian businessman and politician
- 1912 - Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, English surgeon and academic
- 1913 - Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, Greek long jumper
- 1917 - John William Waterhouse, English painter
- 1918 - Abdul Hamid II, Ottoman sultan
- 1918 - Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian soldier and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1920 - Henry Strangways, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of South Australia
- 1923 - Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1928 - José Sánchez del Río, Mexican martyr and saint
- 1932 - Edgar Wallace, English author and screenwriter
- 1939 - Pope Pius XI
- 1944 - E. M. Antoniadi, Greek-French astronomer and chess player
- 1945 - Anacleto Díaz, Filipino lawyer and jurist
- 1950 - Marcel Mauss, French sociologist and anthropologist
- 1956 - Leonora Speyer, American poet and violinist
- 1956 - Emmanouil Tsouderos, Greek banker and politician, 132nd Prime Minister of Greece
- 1957 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author
- 1960 - Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal
- 1966 - Billy Rose, American composer and songwriter
- 1967 - Dionysios Kokkinos, Greek historian and author
- 1975 - Nikos Kavvadias, Greek sailor and poet
- 1979 - Edvard Kardelj, Slovene general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia
- 1992 - Alex Haley, American soldier, journalist, and author
- 1993 - Fred Hollows, New Zealand-Australian ophthalmologist and academic
- 1995 - Paul Monette, American author, poet, and activist
- 1997 - Brian Connolly, Scottish musician
- 2000 - Jim Varney, American actor, comedian and writer
- 2001 - Abraham Beame, American academic and politician, 104th Mayor of New York City
- 2001 - Buddy Tate, American saxophonist and clarinet player
- 2002 - Dave Van Ronk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 2003 - Edgar de Evia, Mexican-American photographer
- 2003 - Albert J. Ruffo, American lawyer and politician, Mayor of San Jose
- 2003 - Ron Ziegler, American politician, 14th White House Press Secretary
- 2005 - Arthur Miller, American actor, playwright, and author
- 2006 - James Yancey, American record producer and rapper
- 2008 - Roy Scheider, American actor and boxer
- 2010 - Fred Schaus, American basketball player and coach
- 2010 - Charles Wilson, American lieutenant and politician
- 2011 - Trevor Bailey, English cricketer and journalist
- 2012 - Lloyd Morrison, New Zealand banker and businessman, founded H. R. L. Morrison & Co
- 2012 - Jeffrey Zaslow, American journalist and author
- 2013 - W. Watts Biggers, American author, screenwriter, and animator
- 2013 - David Hartman, American-Israeli rabbi and philosopher, founded the Shalom Hartman Institute
- 2014 - Stuart Hall, Jamaican-English sociologist and theorist
- 2014 - Shirley Temple, American actress and diplomat
- 2015 - Naseer Aruri, Palestinian scholar and activist
- 2015 - Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal and theologian
- 2015 - Deng Liqun, Chinese theorist and politician
- 2016 - Fatima Surayya Bajia, Indian-Pakistani author and playwright
- 2017 - Mike Ilitch, American businessman
- 2019 - Carmen Argenziano, American actor
- 2019 - Jan-Michael Vincent, American actor
- 2021 - Larry Flynt, American publisher
- 2022 - Olsen Filipaina, New Zealand rugby league player
- 2023 - AKA, South African rapper
- 2025 - Peter Tuiasosopo, American football player and actor
Holidays and observances