Tuesday, 10th February 2026 in Lisbon

Welcome to your daily snapshot of Lissabon! It's World Pulses Day. Explore 41 historical events, birthdays, deaths, and milestones that shaped this day in Lissabon. From remarkable moments in local and world history to the people who left their mark — find out what makes today special. Today's weather in Lissabon brings heavy rain expected with temperatures between 15°C and 16°C. Tonight's moon is in its waxing crescent phase, and the zodiac sign of the day is Aquarius. If you're curious about the history of a day — this page brings together everything worth knowing about this Tuesday, 10th February in Lissabon, PT.

Lisbon
Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL – CC BY-SA 2.0Wikimedia Commons

Lisbon, Portugal's capital, sits on the Tagus River estuary overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and is known for its historic architecture and diverse neighbourhoods. Heavy rain is expected on this Tuesday. The sun is in Aquarius, the zodiac sign associated with innovation and intellectual pursuit, while the moon is in its waxing crescent phase, a time of new beginnings and intention-setting.

On this day

On 10 February 1906, the Royal Navy launched HMS Dreadnought, a battleship that revolutionised naval warfare through her advanced design and firepower. Her technological superiority was so pronounced that the term dreadnought became synonymous with an entire generation of battleships that followed, reshaping global naval strategy in the early twentieth century.

More recently, in 1962, two significant events occurred on this date. Rudolf Abel, a Soviet intelligence officer arrested by the FBI, was exchanged for Francis Gary Powers, the American pilot whose CIA U-2 spy plane had been shot down over Soviet territory two years earlier. The same year also saw the opening of Roy Lichtenstein's first solo exhibition, which introduced his distinctive artistic approach combining comic imagery, speech balloons and Ben Day dots in works such as Look Mickey.

World Pulses Day

World Pulses Day, observed on 10 February, celebrates legumes including beans, lentils, peas and chickpeas. The United Nations established the day in 2019 to raise awareness of the nutritional and environmental benefits of pulses as sustainable food sources. The date commemorates the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organisation in 1945. Pulses are recognised as crucial for food security, climate change mitigation and rural livelihoods.

DayAtlas provides comprehensive information for any date and location, including weather conditions, historical events, notable births and deaths, and astrological data such as zodiac signs and lunar phases.

Find out what's happening today in Lissabon.

What the Weather Had in Store for Lissabon on 10th February 2026

Heavy Rain

Sunrise 08:33
Sunset 19:08
Sunshine duration 00:07 hours
Daylight duration 10:34 hours

Maximum temperature 16.7°C
Minimum temperature 15.2°C

Wind speed 27.7km/h from WSW
Precipitation 11.6mm

Meaning emerges through precision, never through volume.

Fortune of the Day

10th February in the Stars – Star Sign Aquarius

Today, the zodiac sign Aquarius celebrates its birthday.

Personality Profile

Personality Those born on February 10 embody Aquarius innovation with exceptional creative flair. They think ahead, challenge conventions, and pursue their unique paths with conviction. Their airy nature makes them inspiring conversationalists with diverse interests.

Strengths & Weaknesses Their strengths lie in originality, analytical thinking, and humanitarian commitment. However, they can seem emotionally distant or stubborn at times. The tendency to get lost in theory may hinder practical execution.

Love In relationships, these individuals seek intellectual connection and personal freedom. They need partners who respect independence and share visionary ideas. They express deep feelings subtly but with lasting loyalty.

Caree & Finance Careers in technology, science, or nonprofit work suit them well. Their innovative solutions drive professional success, with financial stability following through persistence. They thrive earning through creative projects and forward-thinking ventures.

Health These natives benefit from mental stimulation and social connections for wellbeing. They should combine physical activity with intellectual hobbies. Managing stress through engaging with like-minded people strengthens their physical and emotional balance.


That night, the moon was in its waxing crescent phase.


Chinese year of the Snake (Wood).

Fun Facts About 10th February

Name Days in Your Language: Amber, Amelinda, Colt, Colten, Colton, Duran, Durand, Durante, Kolton, Meredith


Someone born on this day would be just 119 days old today — roughly 2,873 hours, 172,394 minutes, or 10,343,673 seconds spent on Earth so far.


It's the 41. day of the year. In 2026, 10th February falls on a Tuesday.


There are 324 days still to come.


We’re currently in Week 7 — the year marches on.

Famous Birthdays on 9th February

On this day, 216 notable people were born on 9th February — spanning from 1486 to 2009. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

10/02/2009

Antonio Arena, Italian footballer

Antonio Arena is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Roma. Born in Australia of Italian descent, he has represented both Australia and Italy at youth international level, having most recently appeared for the Italy national under-18 team.


10/02/2001

Sergio Camello, Spanish footballer

Sergio Camello Pérez is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Rayo Vallecano.


10/02/2000

María Carlé, Argentine tennis player

María Lourdes Carlé is an Argentine professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 71, achieved on 6 May 2024, and a best doubles ranking of 124, achieved on 11 November 2024.


Yara Shahidi, American actress and model

Yara Sayeh Shahidi is an American actress and producer. She began her career as a child, appearing in the films Imagine That (2009), Butter (2011), and Alex Cross (2012).


10/02/1999

Tiffany Espensen, American actress

Tiffany Espensen is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress, before becoming known for her teenaged roles, such as Piper in the 2011 Nickelodeon series Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures and Belinda in the 2014 Disney XD series Kirby Buckets. Espensen has also appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017).


10/02/1997

Josh Jackson, American basketball player

Joshua O'Neal Jackson is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Stockton Kings of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for one season with the Kansas Jayhawks before declaring for the 2017 NBA draft, where he was selected fourth overall by the Phoenix Suns.


Lilly King, American swimmer

Lillia Camille King is an American former competitive swimmer who specialized in breaststroke. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke competition and also won a gold medal in the 4x100 meter medley relay, in which she swam the breaststroke leg. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, King won a silver medal in the 4x100 meter medley relay for her efforts in the prelims, the silver medal in the 200-meter breaststroke, and the bronze medal in the 100-meter breaststroke. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal in the 4x100 meter medley relay, where she swam the breaststroke leg. She is the current world record holder in the long course 100-meter breaststroke.


Chloë Grace Moretz, American actress

Chloë Grace Moretz is an American actress. She began acting as a child, with early roles in the horror film The Amityville Horror (2005), the drama series Desperate Housewives (2006–2007), the horror film The Eye (2008), the drama film The Poker House (2008), the romantic comedy film 500 Days of Summer (2009), and the children's comedy film Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010). Her breakthrough came in 2010 with her performance as Hit-Girl in the superhero film Kick-Ass.


Nadia Podoroska, Argentine tennis player

Nadia Natacha Podoroska is an Argentine professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 36, achieved on 12 July 2021 and a best doubles ranking of No. 62, attained on 18 October 2021.


Josh Rosen, American football player

Joshua Ballinger Lippincott Rosen is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for four seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, receiving Freshman All-American and Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2015. As a junior, Rosen set the school's record for single-season passing yards and earned second-team all-conference honors in the Pac-12 Conference.


Adam Armstrong, English footballer

Adam James Armstrong is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers.


10/02/1996

Alexandar Georgiev, Bulgarian-Russian ice hockey player

Alexandar Georgiyevich Georgiev is a Bulgarian-born Russian professional ice hockey goaltender for Spartak Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). An undrafted player, Georgiev previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche, and San Jose Sharks, as well as in the Liiga for TPS. He is the first Bulgarian-born player to play in the NHL.


Emanuel Mammana, Argentine footballer

Emanuel Hernán Mammana is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Argentine Primera División club Vélez Sarsfield.


10/02/1995

Sterling Brown, American basketball player

Sterling Damarco Brown is an American professional basketball player for Partizan Belgrade of the Basketball League of Serbia (KLS), the ABA League and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 2013 to 2017. As a senior, he earned second-team all-conference honors in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Brown was drafted 46th overall in the 2017 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.


Bobby Portis, American basketball player

Bobby Portis Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Arkansas Razorbacks, earning consensus second-team All-American honors as a sophomore in 2015. Portis was selected in the first round of the 2015 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls with the 22nd overall pick. He won an NBA championship with Milwaukee in 2021.


Carolane Soucisse, Canadian ice dancer

Carolane Soucisse is a Canadian retired ice dancer who represented both Ireland and Canada. With skating partner and husband, Shane Firus, she is a three-time Irish national champion (2023–25) and represented Ireland at the European and World Championships. Skating with Firus for Canada, she is the 2018 Four Continents silver medallist. They have finished third at the 2020 Canadian Championships and represented Canada on the Grand Prix circuit and at the World Championships.


Lexi Thompson, American golfer

Alexis Noel Thompson is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. She has won a total of 15 professional titles during her career, including 11 victories on the LPGA Tour. Her one major title came at the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship. She has represented the United States at seven Solheim Cups, winning in 2015, 2017 and 2024.


Naby Keïta, Guinean footballer

Naby Laye Keïta is a Guinean professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for NB I club Ferencváros, and captains the Guinea national team.


10/02/1994

Son Na-eun, South Korean singer and actress

Son Na-eun, known mononymously as Naeun, is a South Korean actress and singer. She gained popularity following her debut as a member of the South Korean girl group, Apink. Apart from her group's activities, Son has also starred in various television series such as The Great Seer (2012), My Kids Give Me a Headache (2012–2013), Second 20s (2015), Cinderella with Four Knights (2016), The Most Beautiful Goodbye (2017), Dinner Mate (2020), Ghost Doctor (2022), Agency (2023), and Romance in the House (2024).


Kang Seul-gi, South Korean singer

Kang Seul-gi, known mononymously as Seulgi, is a South Korean singer and dancer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Red Velvet, its sub-unit Red Velvet – Irene & Seulgi, and the supergroup Got the Beat. She released her debut EP, 28 Reasons, in 2022.


Makenzie Vega, American actress

Makenzie Jade Vega Norfolk is an American actress. She is known for her role as Grace Florrick on The Good Wife and as the 11-year-old counterpart of Nancy Callahan in Sin City.


Miguel Almirón, Paraguayan footballer

Miguel Ángel Almirón Rejala is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or right winger for Major League Soccer club Atlanta United and the Paraguay national team.


10/02/1993

Yasser Ibrahim, Egyptian footballer

Yasser Ibrahim Ahmed El Hanafi is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Egyptian Premier League club Al Ahly and the Egypt national team.


Max Kepler, German-American baseball player

Maximilian Kepler-Różycki is a German professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, with whom he made his MLB debut in 2015, and Philadelphia Phillies. Before signing with the Twins, he played for Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg of the Baseball-Bundesliga. He bats and throws left-handed. He holds the record for home runs hit in a career by a German-born player.


Luis Madrigal, Mexican footballer

Luis Guillermo Madrigal Gutiérrez is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a forward for Primera B club San Luis de Quillota.


Filip Twardzik, Czech footballer

Filip Twardzik is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Spartak Trnava.


10/02/1992

Haruka Nakagawa, Japanese singer and actress

Haruka Nakagawa , is a Japanese media personality based in Indonesia. She is a former member of the Japanese idol group AKB48 and its sub-unit Watarirouka Hashiritai, as well as its Indonesian sister group JKT48, all produced by Yasushi Akimoto.


Reinhold Yabo, German footballer

Reinhold Yabo is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.


10/02/1991

C. J. Anderson, American football player

Cortrelle Javon Anderson is an American football coach and former running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons, primarily with the Denver Broncos. After playing college football for the California Golden Bears, he was signed by the Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2013, where he made one Pro Bowl selection and was part of the team that won a Super Bowl title in Super Bowl 50. Anderson also played in Super Bowl LIII with the Los Angeles Rams. Following his NFL retirement, he rejoined California's football team as a volunteer assistant in 2020 before accepting a head coaching position at Monte Vista High School in Danville in 2021.


Rebecca Dempster, Scottish footballer

Rebecca Eileen Dempster is a Scottish footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club Fimauto Valpolicella. She has made three appearances for the Scotland national team.


Emma Roberts, American actress

Emma Rose Roberts is an American actress, singer, and producer. Known for her performances spanning multiple genres of film and television, her work in the horror and thriller genres have established her as a scream queen. Her accolades include a Young Artist Award, an MTV Movie & TV Award, and a ShoWest Award.


10/02/1990

Yuri Berchiche, Spanish footballer

Yuri Berchiche Izeta is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for La Liga club Athletic Bilbao.


Trevante Rhodes, American actor

Trevante Nemour Rhodes is an American actor. He won several accolades and achieved recognition in 2016 for his performance as "Black" in the Academy Award-winning film Moonlight. He has since starred in The Predator (2018), Bird Box (2018), and The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021). In his youth, he was an accomplished track and field sprinter, winning a gold medal at the Pan American Junior Athletics Championships in 2009.


Choi Soo-young, South Korean singer-songwriter, actress, and dancer

Choi Soo-young, known mononymously as Sooyoung, is a South Korean singer, actress, and songwriter. She was a member of the short-lived Korean-Japanese singing duo Route 0 during 2002 in Japan. After returning to South Korea in 2004, Choi eventually became a member of girl group Girls' Generation in 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one of South Korea's most widely known girl groups worldwide.


10/02/1989

Travis d'Arnaud, American baseball player

Travis Emmanuel d'Arnaud is an American professional baseball catcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays, and Atlanta Braves. He made his MLB debut in 2013 with the Mets. D'Arnaud won a Silver Slugger Award in 2020 and was a member of the 2021 World Series champions with the Braves. He was an All-Star in 2022.


Liam Hendriks, Australian baseball player

Liam Johnson Hendriks is an Australian professional baseball pitcher in the Chicago Cubs organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox. He has been an All-Star three times and was the American League's Reliever of the Year in 2020 and 2021. His most recent accomplishment is winning the AL MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award for the 2023 season.


Birgit Skarstein, Norwegian Paralympic athlete and social entrepreneur

Birgit Lovise Røkkum Skarstein is a Norwegian former Paralympic athlete and social entrepreneur who competed in para rowing and para cross-country skiing. She is a Paralympic champion and silver medallist, six-time world champion and four-time European champion in single sculls. Skarstein has won a total of twelve World Championships medals, eight in rowing and four in cross-country skiing, and holds the world best time in women's single sculls. She announced her retirement on 1 January 2025.


10/02/1988

Francesco Acerbi, Italian footballer

Francesco Acerbi is an Italian professional footballer who plays primarily as a centre-back for Serie A club Inter Milan and the Italy national team. He is known for his strength, hard-tackling and aerial ability.


10/02/1987

Justin Braun, American ice hockey player

Justin Timothy Braun is an American professional ice hockey player currently under contract with the Straubing Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Braun was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and grew up nearby in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. He previously played for the San Jose Sharks, New York Rangers, and the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL).


Jakub Kindl, Czech ice hockey player

Jakub Kindl is a Czech professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently playing for Kiekko-Pojat of Mestis, the second tier of professional hockey in Finland. He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Detroit Red Wings and Florida Panthers.


Facundo Roncaglia, Argentine footballer

Facundo Sebastián Roncaglia is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for San Telmo. Mainly a central defender, he can also play as a right-back.


10/02/1986

Jeff Adrien, American basketball player

Jeff Adrien is an American professional basketball player for the Piratas de Quebradillas of the Puerto Rican National Basketball League (BSN).


Josh Akognon, American basketball player

Joshua Emmanuel Akognon is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Washington State Cougars and Cal State Fullerton Titans. Standing at 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m), he played at the point guard position.


Radamel Falcao, Colombian footballer

Radamel Falcao García Zárate is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Categoría Primera A club Millonarios. Nicknamed "El Tigre", he is considered one of the greatest Colombian and South American footballers of all time. With over 350 goals for club and country, he is the all time top goalscorer for the Colombia national team.


Nahuel Guzmán, Argentine footballer

Nahuel Ignacio Guzmán Palomeque is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as goalkeeper for Liga MX club UANL.


Roberto Jiménez, Spanish footballer

Roberto Jiménez Gago, known simply as Roberto, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.


Viktor Troicki, Serbian tennis player

Viktor Troicki is a Serbian tennis coach and a former professional player. He won three singles and two doubles titles on the ATP Tour. Troicki won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup, and his second and third ATP singles titles at the 2015 and 2016 Apia International Sydney. His biggest achievements were a career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 and winning the deciding rubber in Serbia's Davis Cup final against France in 2010. Since then, in every Davis Cup he attended, he has contributed to Serbia reaching a quarterfinal or better. He is known for serving a 12-month ban for an anti-doping rule violation in 2013–14 for missing a blood test. By winning the inaugural ATP Cup in 2020, Troicki became the first player in tennis Open Era history to win all three major team competitions. In December 2020, Troicki was appointed captain of the Serbian team for the Davis Cup and ATP Cup.


10/02/1985

Selçuk İnan, Turkish footballer

Selçuk İnan is a Turkish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Known for his vision, passing range, leadership, and set-piece ability, İnan is regarded as one of the finest Turkish midfielders of his generation.


Paul Millsap, American basketball player

Paul Millsap is an American former professional basketball player who played for 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A power forward from Louisiana Tech University, Millsap was selected by the Utah Jazz in the second round of the 2006 NBA draft and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. He played in Utah until 2013, when he became a member of the Atlanta Hawks. Millsap has also played for the Denver Nuggets, Brooklyn Nets, and Philadelphia 76ers. He is a four-time NBA All-Star.


10/02/1984

Greg Bird, Australian rugby league player

Greg Bird is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played as a second-row, lock or five-eighth for Australia at international level.


Alex Gordon, American baseball player

Alexander Jonathan Gordon is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played his entire career for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2020. Prior to playing professionally, Gordon attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he played college baseball for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.


Kim Hyo-jin, South Korean actress

Kim Hyo-jin is a South Korean actress and model. She began modeling in teen magazines, and made her acting debut in 1999. She made her theater debut in 2009 in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream and followed this up by appearing in the theatrical production Fool for Love a year later. She is best known for playing the youngest of the three sisters in sex comedy film Everybody Has Secrets (2004), a con artist in the television drama Private Lives (2020), and a top star in Castaway Diva (2023).


Zaza Pachulia, Georgian basketball player

Zaur "Zaza" Pachulia is a Georgian professional basketball executive and former player who is a basketball operations consultant for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).


10/02/1983

Vic Fuentes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Victor Vincent Fuentes is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the post-hardcore band Pierce the Veil, which he formed with his brother Mike Fuentes in 2006.


10/02/1982

Hamad Al-Tayyar, Kuwaiti footballer

Hamad Al Tayyar is a Kuwaiti footballer.


Justin Gatlin, American sprinter

Justin Alexander Gatlin is a retired American sprinter who competed in the 60 meters, 100 meters, and 200 meters. He is the 2004 Olympic Champion in the 100 meters, the 2005 and 2017 World Champion in the 100 meters, the 2005 World Champion in the 200 meters, and the 2019 World Champion in the 4 × 100 meters relay. In addition, Gatlin is the 2003 and 2012 World Indoor Champion in the 60 meters. He is a 5-time Olympic medalist and a 12-time World Championship medalist. At the World Athletics Relays, Gatlin won two gold medals in the 4 × 100 meters relay in 2015 and 2017. Gatlin is also a record 3-time Diamond League Champion in the 100 meters. He won the Diamond League trophy in 2013, 2014 and 2015.


Tarmo Neemelo, Estonian footballer

Tarmo Neemelo is an Estonian retired professional footballer who last played as a striker for Meistriliiga club Paide Linnameeskond.


Iafeta Paleaaesina, New Zealand rugby league player

Iafeta Iakopo "Feka" Paleaaesina is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer. He played as a prop for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL, and for the Wigan Warriors, Salford City Reds and Hull F.C. in the Super League.


10/02/1981

Uzo Aduba, American actress

Uzoamaka Nwanneka "Uzo" Aduba is an American actress. Her accolades include three Emmy Awards and five Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Golden Globe Awards and one Tony Award. She is one of only two actors to win an Emmy Award in both the comedy and drama categories for the same role, the other being Ed Asner.


Stephanie Beatriz, American actress

Stephanie Beatriz Bischoff Alvizuri is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing Detective Rosa Diaz in the Fox/NBC comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013–2021), Quiet in the Peacock action-comedy series Twisted Metal (2023–present), Carla in the musical film In the Heights (2021), voicing Mirabel Madrigal in the Disney animated film Encanto (2021) and Vaggi in the adult animated musical series Hazbin Hotel (2024–present).


Max Brown, English actor

Max Brown is a British actor who made his television debut in 2001 at the age of 20. He is best known for his role as Edward Seymour in the television series The Tudors.


Andrew Johnson, English footballer

Andrew Johnson is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for Birmingham City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers.


Barry Sloane, English actor

Barry Sloane is an English actor. He has appeared in numerous television shows, and in the RTS Royal Television Society Programme Awards and BAFTA Award–winning television films Pleasureland and The Mark of Cain. In 2010, Sloane made his West End debut in Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem. It was described as "the greatest British play of the [21st] century"


Holly Willoughby, English model and television host

Holly Marie Willoughby is an English television presenter, author and model. She has presented several ITV television shows, most notably This Morning (2009–2023) and Dancing on Ice.


10/02/1980

César Izturis, Venezuelan baseball player

César David Izturis is a Venezuelan former professional baseball shortstop who currently serves as the bench coach for the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League. He played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, Washington Nationals, and Cincinnati Reds. He is the half-brother of shortstop Maicer Izturis.


Enzo Maresca, Italian footballer and manager

Enzo Maresca is an Italian professional football manager and former player.


Mike Ribeiro, Canadian ice hockey player

Michael Tavares Ribeiro is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. Originally selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round, 45th overall, of the 1998 NHL entry draft, Ribeiro has played in the NHL for the Canadiens, Dallas Stars, Washington Capitals, Phoenix Coyotes and the Nashville Predators.


Bruno Šundov, Croatian basketball player

Bruno Šundov is a Croatian former professional basketball player. Standing at 2.18 m, he played the center position. He played for five NBA teams and over 20 clubs around the world.


10/02/1979

Joey Hand, American race car driver

Joseph Alan Hand is an American professional racing driver who competes in sports car racing as a Ford factory driver. A former champion of the Star Mazda Series, Hand is the co-winner of the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring GT class for BMW Team Rahal, and the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans LMGTE Pro class for Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA driving the Ford GT.


10/02/1978

Don Omar, Puerto Rican rapper, singer, producer, and actor

William Omar Landrón Rivera, known professionally as Don Omar, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Dubbed the "King of Reggaeton" by music critics and fans alike, he has also been recognized by Billboard and Rolling Stone as a reggaeton legend. He is often cited as an influence by other Hispanic urban performers.


10/02/1977

Salif Diao, Senegalese footballer

Salif Alassane Diao is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.


10/02/1976

Lance Berkman, American baseball player and coach

William Lance Berkman, nicknamed "Fat Elvis" and "Big Puma", is an American baseball coach and former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman, who is the former head baseball coach of the Houston Christian Huskies. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers. Berkman is a six-time MLB All-Star and won a World Series championship and the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award with the Cardinals in 2011. He stands 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m), and weighs 220 pounds (100 kg). Berkman spent various seasons of his career as a regular at all three outfield positions.


Keeley Hawes, English actress

Clare Julia "Keeley" Hawes is an English actress. After beginning her career in a number of literary adaptations, including Our Mutual Friend (1998) and Tipping the Velvet (2002), Hawes rose to fame for her portrayal of Zoe Reynolds in the BBC series Spooks (2002–2004), followed by her co-lead performance as DI Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes (2008–2010). She is also known for her roles in Jed Mercurio's Line of Duty as DI Lindsay Denton (2014–2016) and in BBC One drama Bodyguard (2018), in which she played Home Secretary Julia Montague.


10/02/1975

Hiroki Kuroda, Japanese baseball player

Hiroki Kuroda is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for Hiroshima Toyo Carp from 1997 to 2007 before playing in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2008 to 2011 and New York Yankees from 2012 to 2014. After the 2014 season, he chose to return to the Carp to finish out his career. Between the two leagues, he won 203 games.


Tina Thompson, American basketball player and coach

Tina Marie Thompson is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Most recently, she served as the head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team from 2018 to 2022; she was subsequently hired by the Portland Trail Blazers as a team scout later in 2022. Thompson was inducted into both the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.


10/02/1974

Elizabeth Banks, American actress

Elizabeth Banks is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for playing chaperone Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games film series (2012–2015) and an ICCA commentator in the Pitch Perfect film series (2012–2017). She made her directorial film debut with Pitch Perfect 2 (2015), whose $69 million opening-weekend gross set a record for a first-time director. She directed the action comedy Charlie's Angels (2019) and the horror comedy film Cocaine Bear (2023). Banks founded the film and television production company Brownstone Productions in 2002 with her husband, Max Handelman.


Ty Law, American football player

Tajuan Edward "Ty" Law is an American former professional football cornerback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, earning first-team All-American honors, and was selected by the Patriots in the first round of the 1995 NFL draft.


Ivri Lider, Israeli singer

Ivri Lider is an Israeli pop star and part of the duo TYP, also known as The Young Professionals. He served as a judge on the first season of The X Factor Israel.


Henry Paul, New Zealand rugby player and coach

Henry Rangi Paul is a rugby union coach and former rugby league and rugby union player. A dual-code international, Paul won 24 caps for New Zealand in rugby league and 6 for England in rugby union, as well as rugby sevens. Paul played as a loose forward, stand-off, fullback, and occasionally as a hooker, and as a centre and fly-half in rugby union.


10/02/1973

Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, English businesswoman and politician

Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho is a British businesswoman, philanthropist and public servant. She co-founded Last Minute during the dotcom boom of the early 2000s and has subsequently served on public service digital projects. She sits on the boards of WeTransfer and Chanel, as well as being a trustee of The Queen's Commonwealth Trust. She previously served on the board of Channel 4.


10/02/1972

Michael Kasprowicz, Australian cricketer

Michael Scott Kasprowicz is a former Australian international cricketer, who played all formats of the game. He is a right arm fast bowler. He represented Queensland and played in the English county scene at first class level.


10/02/1971

Lorena Rojas, Mexican actress and singer (died 2015)

Lorena Rojas was a Mexican actress and singer, best known for her leading roles in popular telenovelas.


10/02/1970

Melissa Doyle, Australian journalist and author

Melissa Jane Doyle is an Australian television presenter, author and journalist.


Noureddine Naybet, Moroccan footballer and manager

Noureddine Naybet is a Moroccan former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He played in Spain for Deportivo de La Coruña and in Portugal for Sporting CP, as well as in France for FC Nantes and in England for Tottenham Hotspur. He is considered one of the best defenders in La Liga of his generation. Naybet spent the longest and most successful period of his career with Deportivo La Coruña in Spain's La Liga, from 1996 to 2004. He was named the 44th greatest African player of all time by the African football expert Ed Dove.


Åsne Seierstad, Norwegian journalist and author

Åsne Seierstad is a Norwegian freelance journalist and writer, best known for her accounts of everyday life in war zones – most notably Kabul after 2001, Baghdad in 2002 and the ruined Grozny in 2006.


10/02/1969

Joe Mangrum, American painter and sculptor

Joe Mangrum is an installation and multiple-medium artist who is particularly known for his large-scale colored sand paintings. He resides in New York City. Using a wide spectrum of components, his work often includes organic materials, such as flowers, food and sand, in addition to deconstructed computer parts, auto-parts and a multitude of found and collected objects. His installations often include mandala-like forms, pyramids, maps, grids and mushroom clouds and the Ouroboros.


James Small, South African rugby player (died 2019)

James Terence Small was a South African rugby union winger who played for the Springboks. His international debut was against the All Blacks in 1992 and he made his final appearance against Scotland in 1997. In that final test match, he scored his 20th try, becoming the leading Springbok try scorer, eclipsing Danie Gerber's record. He was also the leading try scorer in the 1996 Super 12 season.


10/02/1968

Peter Popovic, Swedish ice hockey player and coach

Peter "Poppe" Popovic is a Swedish former ice hockey defenceman of Serbian ancestry, and currently an assistant coach of the Sweden men's national team. Popovic was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 5th round of the 1988 NHL entry draft.


Garrett Reisman, American engineer and astronaut

Garrett Erin Reisman is an American engineer and former NASA astronaut. He was a backup crew member for Expedition 15 and joined Expedition 16 aboard the International Space Station for a short time before becoming a member of Expedition 17. He returned to Earth on June 14, 2008 on board STS-124 on Space Shuttle Discovery. He was a member of the STS-132 mission that traveled to the International Space Station aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis from May 14 to 26, 2010. He is a consultant at SpaceX and a Professor of Astronautics Practice at the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering.


10/02/1967

Laura Dern, American actress, director, and producer

Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, an Actor Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globes.


Jacky Durand, French cyclist and sportscaster

Jacky Durand is a French former professional road bicycle racer. Durand had an attacking style, winning the Tour of Flanders in 1992 after a 217 kilometres (135 mi) breakaway, and three stages in the Tour de France.


Vince Gilligan, American director, producer, and screenwriter

George Vincent Gilligan Jr. is an American screenwriter and filmmaker. He became widely known as the creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the AMC crime series Breaking Bad (2008–2013) and its spin-off prequel series Better Call Saul (2015–2022). He has received numerous accolades, including four Primetime Emmy Awards, six Writers Guild of America Awards, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, two Producers Guild of America Awards, a Directors Guild of America Award, and a BAFTA Television Award.


10/02/1966

Natalie Bennett, Australian-English journalist and politician

Natalie Louise Bennett, Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle, is an Australian-British politician and journalist who was the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2012 to 2016. Bennett was given a peerage in Theresa May's 2019 resignation honours.


Daryl Johnston, American football player and sportscaster

Daryl Peter Johnston is an American sportscaster and former professional football fullback and executive. Nicknamed "Moose", he played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), all for the Dallas Cowboys.


David Cordani, American businessman

David M. Cordani is an American business executive. He is currently serving as the president, CEO, and chairman of the board of the Cigna Group.


10/02/1964

Glenn Beck, American journalist, producer, and author

Glenn Lee Beck is an American conservative political commentator, radio host, entrepreneur, and television producer. He is the CEO, founder, and owner of Mercury Radio Arts, the parent company of his television and radio network TheBlaze. He hosts the Glenn Beck Radio Program, a talk-radio show nationally syndicated on Premiere Radio Networks. Beck also hosts the Glenn Beck television program, which ran from January 2006 to October 2008 on HLN, from January 2009 to June 2011 on Fox News and now airs on TheBlaze. Beck has authored six New York Times–bestselling books.


10/02/1963

Lenny Dykstra, American baseball player

Leonard Kyle Dykstra, nicknamed Nails and Dude, is an American former professional baseball center fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets (1985–1989) and Philadelphia Phillies (1989–1996). Dykstra was a three-time All-Star and won a World Series championship as a member of the 1986 Mets.


10/02/1962

Cliff Burton, American musician and songwriter (died 1986)

Clifford Lee Burton was an American musician who served as the bassist for the heavy metal band Metallica from 1982 until his death in 1986. He is renowned for his musicianship and influence.


Bobby Czyz, American boxer and commentator

Robert Edward Czyz is an American commentator and former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1998. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) light heavyweight title from 1986 to 1987 and the World Boxing Association (WBA) cruiserweight title from 1991 to 1993.


Randy Velischek, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Randolph Velischek is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League for the Minnesota North Stars, New Jersey Devils, and Quebec Nordiques, and coached the Metropolitan Riveters of the National Women's Hockey League for one season. He was drafted 53rd overall by the North Stars in the 1980 NHL entry draft and played 509 career NHL games, scoring 21 goals and 97 points.


10/02/1961

Alexander Payne, American director, producer, and screenwriter

Constantine Alexander Payne is an American filmmaker. He is noted for his satirical depictions of contemporary American society. Payne has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as a nomination for a Grammy Award.


George Stephanopoulos, American television journalist

George Robert Stephanopoulos is an American television host, political commentator, and former Democratic advisor. Stephanopoulos currently is a coanchor with Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan on Good Morning America, and host of This Week, ABC's Sunday morning current events news program.


10/02/1960

Jim Kent, American biologist, computer programmer, academic

William James Kent is an American research scientist and computer programmer. He has been a contributor to genome database projects and the 2003 winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award.


10/02/1959

John Calipari, American basketball player and coach

John Vincent Calipari is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the University of Arkansas. He has been named Naismith College Coach of the Year three times, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.


10/02/1958

Ricardo Gareca, Argentine footballer and manager

Ricardo Alberto Gareca Nardi, nicknamed el Tigre and el Flaco, is an Argentine football manager and former player. He was recently the manager of the Chile national team.


10/02/1957

Katherine Freese, American astrophysicist and academic

Katherine Freese is a theoretical astrophysicist. She is currently a professor and Director of the Weinberg Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Texas at Austin, where she holds the Jeff and Gail Kodosky Endowed Chair in Physics. She is known for her work in theoretical cosmology at the interface of particle physics and astrophysics.


10/02/1956

Kathleen Beller, American actress

Kathleen Jennifer Beller is an American actress who was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in Promises in the Dark (1979) and was well known for her role as Kirby Anders on the prime time soap opera Dynasty. She had a small role in The Godfather Part II and a featured role in The Betsy.


James Martin Graham, American Roman Catholic priest (died 1997)

James Martin Graham American Roman Catholic priest, founder of The Sts. Martin & James Respite in Waterbury, Connecticut and Director of the International Christian AIDS Network (ICAN).


Enele Sopoaga, Tuvaluan politician, 12th Prime Minister of Tuvalu

Enele Sosene Sopoaga PC is a Tuvaluan diplomat and politician who was Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2013 to 2019.


10/02/1955

Jim Cramer, American television personality, pundit, and author

James Joseph Cramer is an American television personality, author, entertainer and former hedge fund manager. He is the host of Mad Money on CNBC and an anchor on Squawk on the Street. After graduating from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, he worked for Goldman Sachs and then became a hedge fund manager, founder and senior partner of Cramer Berkowitz. He co-founded TheStreet, which he wrote for from 1996 to 2021. Cramer hosted Kudlow & Cramer from 2002 to 2005. Mad Money with Jim Cramer first aired on CNBC in 2005. Cramer has written several books, including Confessions of a Street Addict (2002), Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World (2005), Jim Cramer's Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich (2006), Jim Cramer's Get Rich Carefully (2013), and How to Make Money in Any Market (2025).


Tom LaGarde, American basketball player

Thomas Joseph LaGarde is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1977 to 1985 before a recurring knee issue cut short his career. He earned a gold medal as a member of Team USA in the 1976 Olympics. LaGarde also was a member of an NBA championship team with the Seattle SuperSonics three years later, although torn right knee ligaments forced him to sit out the final five months of the season.


Greg Norman, Australian golfer and sportscaster

Gregory John Norman is an Australian retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 88 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournaments and two majors: The Open Championship in 1986 and 1993. Norman also earned thirty top-10 finishes and was the runner-up eight times in majors throughout his career. In a reference to his blond hair, size, aggressive golf style and his birthplace's native coastal animal, Norman's nickname is "the Great White Shark", which he earned after his play at the 1981 Masters.


10/02/1952

Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean general and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Singapore

Lee Hsien Loong, also known by his initials LHL, is a Singaporean politician and former military officer who has served as the Senior Minister of Singapore since 2024, having previously served as the third Prime Minister between 2004 and 2024. He also served as the secretary-general of the governing People's Action Party (PAP) between 2004 and 2024. As a Member of Parliament (MP), he has represented the Teck Ghee division of Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency (GRC) since 1991, having previously represented Teck Ghee Single Member Constituency (SMC) between 1984 and 1991.


10/02/1951

Bob Iger, American media executive

Robert Alan Iger is an American media executive who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company twice, from 2005 to 2020 and from 2022 to 2026. He previously was the president of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) between 1994 and 1995 and president and chief operating officer (COO) of Capital Cities/ABC, from 1995 until its acquisition by Disney in 1996.


10/02/1950

Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta, Mexican economist and politician (died 1994)

Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta was a Mexican politician, economist, and Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) presidential candidate, who was assassinated at a campaign rally in Tijuana during the presidential campaign of 1994.


Mark Spitz, American swimmer

Mark Andrew Spitz is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, winning seven gold medals, each in world-record time. This achievement set a record that lasted for 36 years, until it was surpassed by fellow American Michael Phelps, who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Phelps, like Spitz, set seven world records.


10/02/1949

Nigel Olsson, English rock drummer and singer-songwriter

Nigel Olsson is an English drummer, best known for being a lifelong member of the Elton John Band. He has had an equally long career as a session musician and composed, recorded and produced albums as a solo artist, highlighting his 1979 hit single "Dancin' Shoes".


10/02/1947

Louise Arbour, Canadian lawyer and jurist

Louise Arbour is a Canadian lawyer, prosecutor, civil servant and jurist who has been designated to become the 31st governor general of Canada.


Butch Morris, American cornet player, composer, and conductor (died 2013)

Lawrence Douglas "Butch" Morris was an American cornetist, composer and conductor. He was known for pioneering his structural improvisation method, Conduction, which he utilized on many recordings.


Nicholas Owen, English journalist

Nicholas David Arundel Owen is an English journalist, television presenter and radio presenter. He previously presented on the BBC News channel and BBC One, and used to present a weekly programme on Classic FM radio.


10/02/1946

Dick Anderson, American football player

Richard Paul Anderson is an American former professional football player who was a safety for the Miami Dolphins of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1960s and 1970s. He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes and was recognized as a consensus All-American. He was selected in third round of the 1968 NFL/AFL draft, and he played for his entire professional career for the Dolphins.


10/02/1945

Delma S. Arrigoitia, Puerto Rican historian, author, educator and lawyer (died 2023)

Delma S. Arrigoitia was a historian, author, educator, and lawyer whose written works covered the life and works of some of Puerto Rico's most prominent politicians of the early 20th century. After earning her doctorate in history at Fordham University in New York, she helped develop the graduate school for history at the University of Puerto Rico and taught there for many years.


Glynn Saulters, American basketball player

Grady Glynn Saulters Jr. is an American former professional basketball player born in Minden, Louisiana.


10/02/1944

Peter Allen, Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (died 1992)

Peter Allen was an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, and entertainer, known for his flamboyant stage persona, energetic performances, and lavish costumes. Allen's songs were made popular by many recording artists, including Elkie Brooks, Melissa Manchester and Olivia Newton-John, including Newton-John's first chart-topping hit "I Honestly Love You", and the chart-topping and Academy Award-winning "Arthur's Theme " by Christopher Cross.


Frank Keating, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Oklahoma

Francis Anthony Keating II is an American attorney, politician, and a former FBI special agent who served as the 25th governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003.


Frances Moore Lappé, American author and activist

Frances Moore Lappé is an American researcher and author in the field of food and democracy policy. She is the author of 20 books including the 2.5-million-copy selling 1971 book Diet for a Small Planet, which the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History describes as "one of the most influential political tracts of the times." She has co-founded three organizations that explore the roots of hunger, poverty, and environmental crises, as well as solutions emerging worldwide through what she calls "living democracy". Her latest work is a report entitled Crisis of Trust: How Can Democracies Protect Against Dangerous Lies? with Max Boland and Rachel Madison. Recent books by Lappé include Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want, co-authored with Adam Eichen, and It's Not Too Late: Crisis, Opportunity, and the Power of Hope. In 1987, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "revealing the political and economic causes of world hunger and how citizens can help to remedy them."


Rufus Reid, American bassist and composer

Rufus Reid is an American jazz bassist, educator, and composer.


10/02/1941

Michael Apted, English director and producer (died 2021)

Michael David Apted was an English television and film director and producer.


Dick Carlson, American journalist and diplomat (died 2025)

Richard Warner Carlson was an American journalist, diplomat and lobbyist who was the director of the Voice of America from 1986 to 1991. Carlson also was a newspaper and wire service reporter, magazine writer, documentary filmmaker, and television/radio correspondent. He was the father of conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson.


10/02/1940

Mary Rand, English sprinter and long jumper (died 2026)

Mary Denise Rand was an English athlete who excelled at jumping, hurdles and the pentathlon. She won the long jump at the 1964 Summer Olympics by breaking the world record, the first British female to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics. Until 2024, Rand was the only British female athlete to win three medals in a single Olympics.


Kenny Rankin, American singer-songwriter (died 2009)

Kenneth Joseph Rankin was an American singer and songwriter in the folk rock and singer-songwriter genres; he was influenced by jazz. Rankin often sang notes which were in a high range to express emotion.


10/02/1939

Adrienne Clarkson, Hong Kong-Canadian journalist and politician, 26th Governor General of Canada

Adrienne Louise Clarkson is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as the 26th governor general of Canada from 1999 to 2005.


Deolinda Rodríguez de Almeida, Angolan nationalist (died 1967)

Deolinda Rodrigues Francisco de Almeida was an Angolan revolutionary, writer, and poet. She was a member of the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola and, in addition to seeing combat, worked for the organisation as a translator, educator, and radio host.


10/02/1937

Anne Anderson, Scottish physiologist and academic (died 1983)

Anne Barbara Michie Anderson was a Scottish reproductive physiologist, researcher, lecturer, and author. Her major contributions were for her research in reproductive physiology. In the last decade of her life, she broadened this to encompass more about women's health generally, including doing clinical trials and working with people focusing in on what would become evidence-based medicine.


Roberta Flack, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2025)

Roberta Cleopatra Flack was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm radio format. Her commercial success included the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", and "Feel Like Makin' Love". She became the first artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in consecutive years.


10/02/1935

Theodore Antoniou, Greek composer and conductor (died 2018)

Theodore Antoniou, was a Greek composer and conductor. His works vary from operas and choral works to chamber music, from film and theatre music to solo instrumental works. In addition to his career as composer and conductor, he was professor of composition at Boston University. His education included studies in violin, voice, and composition at the National Conservatory of Athens, the Hellenic Conservatory, and conducting at both The Hochschule für Musik and the International Music Centre in Darmstadt. He was a member of the Academy of Athens.


Barbara Maier Gustern, American vocal coach and singer (died 2022)

Barbara Joan Gustern was an American vocal coach and singer. She had many noted students, including Blondie singer Debbie Harry, Taylor Mac, Justin Vivian Bond, Diamanda Galás, and Kathleen Hanna.


10/02/1934

Fleur Adcock, New Zealand poet (died 2024)

Fleur Adcock was a New Zealand poet, editor and translator. Born in Papakura, New Zealand, and raised partly in England, Adcock spent most of her adult life in the United Kingdom, where she became a prominent figure in contemporary poetry. Her work is characterised by wit, a conversational tone and psychological insights, and explores themes of identity, place and the complexities of human relationships.


10/02/1933

Faramarz Payvar, Iranian musician and composer (died 2009)

Master Farâmarz Pâyvar was an Iranian composer and santur player. Payvar died on 9 December 2009 after a long struggle with brain damage. Although once perceived as marginal, the santur is now considered an important solo instrument in Persian classical music, largely as a result of his work. Over the course of his career, Payvar revolutionised its playing, led two major ensembles and made numerous recordings.


Richard Schickel, American journalist, author, and critic (died 2017)

Richard Warren Schickel was an American film historian, journalist, author, documentarian, and film and literary critic. He was a film critic for Time from 1965–2010, and also wrote for Life and the Los Angeles Times Book Review. His last writings about film were for Truthdig.


10/02/1932

Barrie Ingham, English-American actor (died 2015)

Barrie Stanton Ingham was an English actor. He worked in television, on stage and in several films.


10/02/1931

James West, American inventor and acoustician

James Edward Maceo West is an American inventor and acoustician. He holds over 250 foreign and U.S. patents for the production and design of microphones and techniques for creating polymer foil electrets.


10/02/1930

E. L. Konigsburg, American author and illustrator (died 2013)

Elaine Lobl Konigsburg was an American writer and illustrator of children's books and young adult fiction. She is one of seven writers to win two Newbery Medals, the venerable American Library Association award for the year's "most distinguished contribution to American children's literature, and the only author to win the medal and receive an honor in the same year"


Robert Wagner, American actor and producer

Robert John Wagner Jr. is an American actor. He is known for starring in the television shows It Takes a Thief (1968–1970), Switch (1975–1978), and Hart to Hart (1979–1984). He later had recurring roles on Two and a Half Men (2007–2008) and NCIS (2010–2019).


10/02/1929

Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (died 2004)

Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer, conductor and orchestrator with a career in film and television scoring that spanned nearly 50 years and over 200 productions, between 1954 and 2003. He was considered one of film music's most innovative and influential composers. He was nominated for eighteen Academy Awards, six Grammy Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards, nine Golden Globe Awards, and four British Academy Film Awards.


Jim Whittaker, American mountaineer

James Warren Whittaker was an American climber and mountain guide. On May 1, 1963, he became the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest as a member of the American Mount Everest Expedition led by Norman Dyhrenfurth, alongside the Sherpa Nawang Gombu, a nephew of Tenzing Norgay. They ran out of oxygen, but managed to reach the summit.


Lou Whittaker, American mountaineer (died 2024)

Louis Winslow Whittaker was an American mountaineer, mountain guide, and businessman. He and his twin brother, Jim Whittaker, also a renowned mountaineer and guide, were born and raised in Seattle.


10/02/1927

Leontyne Price, American operatic soprano

Leontyne Price is an American singer who was the first African-American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, becoming the first Black singer to maintain a sustained relationship with the company. She regularly appeared at the world's major opera houses, including the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and La Scala. She was particularly renowned for her performances of the title role in Giuseppe Verdi's Aida.


10/02/1926

Sidney Bryan Berry, American general (died 2013)

Sidney Bryan Berry was a United States Army Lieutenant General, Superintendent of West Point (1974–1977), and Commissioner of Public Safety for the state of Mississippi (1980–1984).


Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish soldier, footballer and manager (died 1993)

Robert Dennis Blanchflower was a Northern Ireland footballer, football manager and journalist who played for and captained Tottenham Hotspur, including during their double-winning season of 1960–61. He was twice Footballer of the Year and ranked as the greatest player in Spurs history by The Times in 2009. After a lengthy playing career, he retired at the age of 38. He became a respected football journalist and, later, a football manager.


10/02/1925

Pierre Mondy, French actor and director (died 2012)

Pierre Mondy was a French film and theatre actor and director.


10/02/1924

Max Ferguson, Canadian radio host and actor (died 2013)

Max Ferguson, OC was a Canadian radio personality and satirist, best known for his long-running radio programs Rawhide and The Max Ferguson Show on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).


Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2005)

Norman Robert "Bud" Poile was a professional ice hockey player, coach, general manager, and league executive. Bud was the brother of Don Poile, and the father of David Poile.


10/02/1923

Allie Sherman, American football player and coach (died 2015)

Alex "Allie" Sherman was an American football player and coach who played 51 games in six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as a quarterback and defensive back, and afterward served as head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and of the New York Giants of the NFL. He later worked as a cable television and sports marketing executive and media personality.


10/02/1922

Árpád Göncz, Hungarian author, playwright, and politician, 1st President of Hungary (died 2015)

Árpád Göncz was a Hungarian writer, translator, lawyer and liberal politician who served as President of Hungary from 2 May 1990 to 4 August 2000. Göncz played a role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, for which he was imprisoned for six years. After his release, he worked as a translator of English-language literary works.


José Gabriel da Costa, Brazilian spiritual leader, founder of the União do Vegetal (died 1971)

José Gabriel da Costa, later known as Mestre Gabriel, (1922–1971), is the founder of the União do Vegetal, a religion with Christian and reincarnationist foundations that considers Hoasca to be its main sacrament. This beverage is made by boiling two plants, Mariri and Chacrona, both of which are found in the Amazon rainforest.


10/02/1920

José Manuel Castañón, Spanish lawyer and author (died 2001)

José Manuel Castañón was a Spanish writer born in Pola de Lena, Asturias. Although he fought in Francisco Franco’s 1936 military uprising, he later distanced himself from Franco's regime and in 1957 left for a 20-year exile to Venezuela. His best-known novel Moletu-Voleva, published in Madrid in 1956, a story about lust for money.


Alex Comfort, English physician and author (died 2000)

Alexander Comfort was a British scientist and physician, writer and activist, known best for his nonfiction sex manual, The Joy of Sex (1972). He was a poet and author of both fiction and nonfiction, as well as a gerontologist, geriatrician, sexologist, political theorist and commentator, anarchist, and pacifist.


Neva Patterson, American actress (died 2010)

Neva Louise Patterson was an American actress.


10/02/1919

Ioannis Charalambopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece (died 2014)

Ioannis Charalambopoulos was a Greek Army officer and socialist politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of National Defence of Greece.


10/02/1915

Vladimir Zeldin, Russian actor (died 2016)

Vladimir Mikhailovich Zeldin was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. A centenarian, he was among the longest-serving stage performers and continued acting up until his death.


10/02/1914

Larry Adler, American harmonica player, composer, and actor (died 2001)

Lawrence Cecil Adler was an American harmonica player and film composer. Known for playing major works, he played compositions by George Gershwin, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Darius Milhaud and Arthur Benjamin. During his later career, he collaborated with Sting, Elton John and Kate Bush.


10/02/1910

Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1969)

Dominique Pire, O.P. was a Belgian Dominican friar whose work helping refugees in post-World War II Europe saw him receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1958. Pire delivered his Nobel lecture, entitled Brotherly Love: Foundation of Peace, in December 1958.


10/02/1909

Min Thu Wun, Burmese poet, scholar, and politician (died 2004)

Thiri Pyanchi Min Thu Wun was a Burmese poet, writer and scholar who helped launch a new age literary movement called Khit-San in Burma. He is the father of Htin Kyaw, President of Myanmar from 2016 to 2018.


10/02/1908

Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer and educator (died 2000)

Jean Coulthard, was a Canadian composer and teacher. She was one of a trio of women composers who dominated Western Canadian music in the twentieth century: Coulthard, Barbara Pentland, and Violet Archer. All three died within weeks of each other in 2000. Her works might be loosely termed "prematurely neo-Romantic," as the orthodox serialists who dominated academic musical life in North America during the 1950s and 1960s had little use for her.


10/02/1907

Anthony Cottrell, New Zealand rugby player (died 1988)

Anthony Ian "Beau" Cottrell was a New Zealand rugby union player. A hooker and prop, Cottrell represented Canterbury at a provincial level and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, from 1929 to 1932. He played 22 matches for the All Blacks including 11 internationals. He went on to serve as a member of the management committee of the Canterbury Rugby Union.


10/02/1906

Lon Chaney Jr., American actor (died 1973)

Creighton Tull Chaney, known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film The Wolf Man (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard in Son of Dracula, Frankenstein's monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), the Mummy in three pictures, and various other roles in many Universal horror films, including six films in their 1940s Inner Sanctum series, making him a horror icon. He also portrayed Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men (1939) and played supporting parts in dozens of mainstream movies, including High Noon (1952), The Defiant Ones (1958), and numerous Westerns, musicals, comedies and dramas.


10/02/1905

Walter A. Brown, American businessman, founded the Boston Celtics (died 1964)

Walter Augustine Brown was an American sports executive. He was the founder and original owner of the Boston Celtics, operated the Boston Garden-Arena Corporation, and served as president of the Boston Athletic Association. In ice hockey, he coached the Boston Olympics to five Eastern Hockey League championships, owned the Boston Bruins, and served as president of the International Ice Hockey Federation. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1965, and IIHF Hall of Fame in 1997.


Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (died 1939)

William Henry "Chick" Webb was an American jazz and swing music drummer and band leader.


10/02/1904

John Farrow, Australian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1963)

John Villiers Farrow, KGCHS was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Spending a considerable amount of his career in the United States, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director in 1942 for Wake Island, and in 1957, he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Around the World in Eighty Days. He had seven children by his wife, actress Maureen O'Sullivan, including actress Mia Farrow.


10/02/1903

Waldemar Hoven, German physician (died 1948)

Waldemar Hoven was a Nazi physician at Buchenwald concentration camp, and convicted war criminal for conducting human experiments regarding typhus which led to the deaths of many concentration camp prisoners, and as one of the organizers of the euthanasia program Aktion T4; this Nazi initiative resulted in the systematic murder of 275,000 to 300,000 disabled people. He was sentenced to death and hanged on 2 June 1948.


Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer and manager (died 1939)

Matthias Sindelar was an Austrian professional footballer. Regarded as one of the greatest Austrian players of all time, Sindelar notably played for Austria Vienna and the national side.


10/02/1902

Walter Houser Brattain, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1987)

Walter Houser Brattain was an American physicist who shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics with John Bardeen and William Shockley for their invention of the point-contact transistor. Brattain devoted much of his life to research on surface states.


10/02/1901

Stella Adler, American actress and educator (died 1992)

Stella Adler was an American actress and acting teacher.


10/02/1899

Cevdet Sunay, Turkish general and politician, 5th President of Turkey (died 1982)

Ahmet Cevdet Sunay was a Turkish politician and military officer who served as the president of Turkey from 1966 to 1973.


10/02/1898

Bertolt Brecht, German director, playwright, and poet (died 1956)

Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht, known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a playwright in Munich and moved to Berlin in 1924, where he wrote The Threepenny Opera with Elisabeth Hauptmann and Kurt Weill and began a lifelong collaboration with the composer Hanns Eisler. Immersed in Marxist thought during this period, Brecht wrote didactic Lehrstücke and became a leading theoretician of epic theatre and the Verfremdungseffekt.


Joseph Kessel, French journalist and author (died 1979)

Joseph Kessel, also known as "Jef", was a French journalist and novelist. He was a member of the Académie française and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour.


10/02/1897

Judith Anderson, Australian actress (died 1992)

Dame Frances Margaret Anderson, known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film, and television.


John Franklin Enders, American virologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1985)

John Franklin Enders was an American biomedical scientist and Nobel Laureate. Enders has been called "The Father of Modern Vaccines."


10/02/1894

Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1986)

Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, was a British statesman and Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nicknamed "Supermac", he was known for his pragmatism, wit, and unflappability.


10/02/1893

Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer, and pianist (died 1980)

James Francis Durante was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and prominent nose helped make him one of the United States' most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s. He often referred to his nose as the schnozzola, and the word became his nickname.


Bill Tilden, American tennis player and coach (died 1953)

William Tatem Tilden II, nicknamed "Big Bill", was an American tennis player. He was the world No. 1 amateur for six consecutive years, from 1920 to 1925, and was ranked as the world No. 1 professional by Ray Bowers in 1931 and 1932 and Ellsworth Vines in 1933. Tilden won 14 Major singles titles, including 10 Grand Slam events, one World Hard Court Championships and three professional majors. He was the first American man to win Wimbledon, first claiming the title in 1920. He also won a joint-record seven U.S. Championships titles.


10/02/1892

Alan Hale Sr., American actor and director (died 1950)

Alan Hale Sr., typically credited as Alan Hale, was an American actor and film director. He is best known for his many character roles during the Golden Age of Hollywood, in particular as a frequent sidekick of Errol Flynn. He also played in films supporting Lon Chaney, Wallace Beery, Douglas Fairbanks, James Cagney, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, and Ronald Reagan. In total, his career in film lasted 40 years.


10/02/1890

Fanny Kaplan, Ukrainian-Russian activist (died 1918)

Fanny Efimovna Kaplan was a Russian Socialist-Revolutionary who attempted to assassinate Vladimir Lenin. She was arrested and executed by the Cheka in 1918.


Boris Pasternak, Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator Nobel Prize laureate (died 1960)

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian and Soviet poet, novelist, and literary translator.


10/02/1888

Giuseppe Ungaretti, Egyptian-Italian soldier, journalist, and poet (died 1970)

Giuseppe Ungaretti was an Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic, academic, and recipient of the inaugural 1970 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. A leading representative of the experimental trend known as Ermetismo ("Hermeticism"), he was one of the most prominent contributors to 20th-century Italian literature. Influenced by symbolism, he was briefly aligned with futurism. Like many futurists, he took an irredentist position during World War I. Ungaretti debuted as a poet while fighting in the trenches, publishing one of his best-known pieces, L'allegria.


10/02/1883

Edith Clarke, American electrical engineer (died 1959)

Edith Clarke was an American electrical engineer and academic. Clarke specialized in electrical power system analysis and is credited with laying the foundation for the smart grid - helping the electric grid of the future grow, remain stable and reliable. She was the first person who used an analyzer to obtain data about power networks. The U.S. Department of Energy calls her efforts “the first step toward smart grid technology. She could be called the Smart Grid’s ‘Founding Mother.’”. She wrote the textbook used by power engineers for decades titled Circuit Analysis of A-C Power Systems.


H. V. Hordern, Australian cricketer (died 1938)

Dr. Herbert Vivian Hordern, also known as Ranji Hordern, was an Australian cricketer who played in seven Test matches between 1911 and 1912. He was the first major leg-spin and googly bowler to play for Australia. His nickname, "Ranji", came from his dark complexion, and is a reference to the famous Indian England test cricketer K S Ranjitsinhji. Hordern was a member of the Hordern family, well known as retailers in Sydney.


10/02/1881

Pauline Brunius, Swedish actress and director (died 1954)

Pauline Brunius, née Emma Maria Pauline Lindstedt was a Swedish stage and film actor, screenwriter and film and theatre director. She was the managing director of the Royal Dramatic Theatre from 1938 to 1948.


10/02/1879

Ernst Põdder, Estonian general (died 1932)

Ernst-Johannes Põdder VR I/1 was an Estonian military commander in the 1918–1920 Estonian War of Independence.


10/02/1869

Royal Cortissoz, American art critic (died 1948)

Royal Cortissoz was an American art historian and, from 1891 until his death, the art critic for the New York Herald Tribune. During his tenure at the newspaper, he consistently championed traditionalism and decried modernism. Of the latter, he once wrote, "It will someday prove a kind of Victorian 'dud', with a difference, obviously, but a 'dud' just the same."


10/02/1868

Prince Waldemar of Prussia (died 1879)

Prince Waldemar of Prussia was the sixth child and youngest son of the German Crown Prince and Crown Princess, later Emperor Frederick III and Empress Victoria. Prince Waldemar was a grandson of both William I, German Emperor, and Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.


William Allen White, American journalist and author (died 1944)

William Allen White was an American newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement. Between 1896 and his death, White became a spokesman for middle America.


10/02/1867

Robert Garran, Australian lawyer and public servant (died 1957)

Sir Robert Randolph Garran was an Australian lawyer who became "Australia's first public servant" – the first federal government employee after the federation of the Australian colonies. He served as the departmental secretary of the Attorney-General's Department from 1901 to 1932, and after 1916 also held the position of Solicitor-General of Australia.


10/02/1859

Alexandre Millerand, French lawyer and politician, 12th President of France (died 1943)

Alexandre Millerand was a French politician who served as President of France from 1920 to 1924, having previously served as Prime Minister of France earlier in 1920. His participation in Waldeck-Rousseau's cabinet at the start of the 20th century, alongside the Marquis de Galliffet, who had directed the repression of the 1871 Paris Commune, sparked a debate in the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and in the Second International about the participation of socialists in bourgeois governments.


10/02/1847

Nabinchandra Sen, Bangladeshi poet and author (died 1909)

Nabinchandra Sen was a Bengali poet and writer, often considered one of the greatest poets prior to the arrival of Rabindranath Tagore. He commented on the battle of Plassey and the arrival of British Rule in India as "A night of Eternal Gloom".


10/02/1846

Lord Charles Beresford, Irish admiral and politician (died 1919)

Admiral Charles William de la Poer Beresford, 1st Baron Beresford,, styled Lord Charles Beresford between 1859 and 1916, was a British admiral and Member of Parliament.


Ira Remsen, American chemist and academic (died 1927)

Ira Remsen was an American chemist who introduced organic chemistry research and education in the United States along the lines of German universities where he received his early training. He was the first professor of chemistry and the second president of Johns Hopkins University. He founded the American Chemical Journal, which he edited from 1879 to 1914. The discovery of saccharin was made in his laboratory by Constantine Fahlberg who worked in collaboration with Remsen but patented the synthesis on his own, earning the ire of Remsen.


10/02/1843

Adelina Patti, Italian-French opera singer (died 1919)

Adela Juana Maria Patti, commonly known as Adelina Patti was a Spanish-Italian opera singer. At the height of her career, she was earning huge fees performing in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851, and gave her last performance before an audience in 1914. Along with her near contemporaries Jenny Lind and Christina Nilsson, Patti remains one of the most famous sopranos in history, owing to the purity and beauty of her lyrical voice and the unmatched quality of her bel canto technique.


10/02/1842

Agnes Mary Clerke, Irish astronomer and author (died 1907)

Agnes Mary Clerke was an Irish astronomer and writer. She was born in Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland, and died in London.Brück, Mary T. (2014). "Clerke, Agnes Mary". In Hockey, Thomas; Trimble, Virginia; Williams, Thomas R. (eds.). Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer Publishing. pp. 440–442. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_290. ISBN 978-1-4419-9917-7.


10/02/1829

Julius von Szymanowski, Russian surgeon of Polish-German origin (died 1868)

Julius Alphonse Nikolai Szymanowski, Julij Karlovich Szymanowski was a Russian surgeon of Polish-German origin, professor at the University of Helsinki and University of Kiev, originator of many plastic surgery techniques, including the Kuhnt-Szymanowski method. Author of the surgical textbook Handbuch der Operativen Chirurgie (1870). A collection of his poems Was ich gelebt: Lieder was published posthumously.


10/02/1824

Samuel Plimsoll, English merchant and politician (died 1898)

Samuel Plimsoll was a British politician and social reformer, now best remembered for having devised the Plimsoll line. Its subsequent introduction in regulation resulted in a reduction of ship sinkings and a corresponding significant improvement in seafarer safety from the late 19th century onwards.


10/02/1821

Roberto Bompiani, Italian painter and sculptor (died 1908)

Roberto Bompiani was an Italian painter and sculptor.


10/02/1797

George Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall (died 1883)

George Hamilton Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall, styled Viscount Chichester until 1799 and Earl of Belfast between 1799 and 1844, was an Anglo-Irish landowner, courtier and politician. He served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household from 1830 to 1834, as well as from 1838 to 1841, and as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard between 1848 and 1852. Ennobled in his own right in 1841, he was also Lord Lieutenant of Antrim from 1841 to 1883 and was made a Knight of St Patrick in 1857.


10/02/1795

Ary Scheffer, Dutch-French painter and academic (died 1858)

Ary Scheffer was a Dutch-French Romantic painter. He was known mostly for his works based on literature, with paintings based on the works of Dante, Goethe, Lord Byron and Walter Scott, as well as religious subjects. He was also a prolific painter of portraits of famous and influential people in his lifetime. Politically, Scheffer had strong ties to King Louis Philippe I, having been employed as a teacher of the latter's children, which allowed him to live a life of luxury for many years until the French Revolution of 1848.


10/02/1785

Claude-Louis Navier, French physicist and engineer (died 1836)

Claude-Louis Navier was a French civil engineer, affiliated with the French government, and a physicist who specialized in continuum mechanics.


10/02/1775

Charles Lamb, English poet and essayist (died 1834)

Charles Lamb was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his Essays of Elia and for the children's book Tales from Shakespeare, co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764–1847).


10/02/1766

Benjamin Smith Barton, American botanist and physician (died 1815)

Benjamin Smith Barton was an American botanist, naturalist, and physician. He was one of the first professors of natural history in the United States and built the largest collection of botanical specimens in the country. He wrote the first American textbook on botany.


10/02/1696

Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (died 1765)

Johann Melchior Molter was a German composer and violinist of the late Baroque period.


10/02/1685

Aaron Hill, English poet and playwright (died 1750)

Aaron Hill was an English dramatist and miscellany writer.


10/02/1627

Cornelis de Bie, Flemish poet and jurist (died 1715)

Cornelis de Bie was a Flemish rederijker, poet, jurist and minor politician from Lier. He is the author of about 64 works, mostly comedies. He is known internationally today for his biographical sketches of Flemish and Dutch painters in his Het Gulden Cabinet der Edel Vry Schilderconst, first printed in 1662.


10/02/1609

John Suckling, English poet and playwright (died 1642)

Sir John Suckling was an English poet, prominent among those renowned for careless gaiety and wit – the accomplishments of a cavalier poet. He also invented the card game cribbage. He is best known for his poem "Ballade upon a Wedding".


10/02/1606

Christine of France, Duchess of Savoy (died 1663)

Christine of France was Duchess of Savoy from 26 July 1630 to 7 October 1637 as the consort of Duke Victor Amadeus I. She was the daughter of Henry IV of France and sister of Louis XIII. Following her husband's death in 1637, she acted as regent of Savoy between 1637 and 1648.


10/02/1514

Domenico Bollani, Bishop of Brescia (died 1579)

Domenico Bollani (1514–1579) was a diplomat and politician of the Republic of Venice, and as Bishop of Brescia from 1559 to 1579 he was a leading figure of the Catholic reform.


10/02/1499

Thomas Platter, Swiss author and scholar (died 1582)

Thomas Platter the Elder was a Swiss humanist scholar and teacher. He was an early follower of the Protestant Reformation.


10/02/1486

George of the Palatinate, German bishop (died 1529)

George of the Palatinate was Bishop of Speyer from 1513 to 1529.


Lives Remembered on 9th February

On 9th February, 86 remarkable people passed away — from 547 to 2026. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.

10/02/2026

Jose de Venecia Jr., Filipino politician and journalist, 17th and 21st Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives (born 1936)

Jose Claveria de Venecia Jr., also known as JDV, Joe De V or Manong Joe, was a Filipino politician and journalist who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2008. A member of Lakas–CMD, he ran for president in the 1998 election, but lost to Vice President Joseph Estrada, finishing second among 11 candidates.


10/02/2025

Peter Tuiasosopo, American football player and actor (born 1963)

Peter Navy Tuiasosopo was an American actor and professional football player. He is known for his roles as E. Honda in Street Fighter (1994) and Manumana in Necessary Roughness (1991). He also played custodian Yoshi Nakamura in the Disney Channel series Kickin' It.


10/02/2023

AKA, South African rapper (born 1988)

Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, known professionally as AKA and also Supamega, was a South African rapper, record producer, and businessman. Born in Cape Town and raised in Johannesburg, Forbes gained recognition after releasing his single "Victory Lap" from his debut studio album, Altar Ego (2011). Often regarded as one of the greatest South African musicians of all time, he was one of the most popular South African musicians of his era and the best-selling South African hip-hop artist of all-time.


10/02/2022

Olsen Filipaina, New Zealand rugby league player (born 1957)

Olsen Orekewa Filipaina was a professional rugby league footballer who represented both New Zealand and Western Samoa. He played for the Balmain Tigers, Eastern Suburbs, and North Sydney Bears during his New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) premiership career from 1980 to 1987.


10/02/2021

Larry Flynt, American publisher (born 1942)

Larry Claxton Flynt Jr. was an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications (LFP). LFP mainly produces pornographic magazines, such as Hustler, pornographic videos, and three pornographic television channels named Hustler TV. Flynt fought several high-profile legal battles involving the First Amendment, and unsuccessfully ran for public office. He was paralyzed from the waist down due to injuries sustained in a 1978 attempted assassination by serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin. In 2003, Arena magazine listed him at No. 1 on the "50 Powerful People in Porn" list. The 1996 biographical drama film The People vs. Larry Flynt, directed by Miloš Forman and starring Woody Harrelson, chronicles the life and career of Flynt.


10/02/2019

Carmen Argenziano, American actor (born 1943)

Carmen Antimo Argenziano was an American actor who appeared in over 73 movies and around 100 television movies or episodes. He was best known for playing Jacob Carter on Stargate SG-1. He had recurring roles on Booker, L.A. Law, Melrose Place, and The Young and the Restless, as well as minor roles in The Godfather Part II, Angels & Demons, and The Accused.


Jan-Michael Vincent, American actor (born 1944)

Jan-Michael Vincent was an American actor. He emerged as a leading man in the 1970s, playing notable roles in films like Going Home (1971), which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture; The Mechanic (1972), Damnation Alley (1977), and Big Wednesday (1978). He earned his second Golden Globe nomination for his role on the television miniseries The Winds of War (1983), before starring as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the television series Airwolf (1984–87).


10/02/2017

Mike Ilitch, American businessman (born 1929)

Michael Ilitch Sr., also known as "Mr. I", was an American entrepreneur and restaurateur. He founded Little Caesars in 1959 and later owned two Detroit professional sports franchises: the Detroit Red Wings (1982–2017) of the National Hockey League and the Detroit Tigers (1992–2017) of Major League Baseball.


10/02/2016

Fatima Surayya Bajia, Indian-Pakistani author and playwright (born 1930)

Fatima Surayya Bajia was an Urdu novelist, playwright and drama writer from Pakistan. She was awarded various awards at home and abroad, including Japan's highest civil award, in recognition of her works. Bajia remained Advisor to the Chief Minister of Sindh province in Pakistan, and was a member of the managing committee of the Arts Council of Pakistan. She died on 10 February 2016 in Karachi, aged 85.


10/02/2015

Naseer Aruri, Palestinian scholar and activist (born 1934)

Naseer H. Aruri was a Palestinian scholar-activist and expert on Middle East politics, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and human rights. Aruri was Chancellor Professor (Emeritus) of Political Science, having served on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth from 1965-1998. In 1993, he was the recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences “Distinguished Research Award”. Aruri’s papers have been preserved and are on display at the Claire T. Carney Library Archives and Special Collections at UMASS-Dartmouth.


Karl Josef Becker, German cardinal and theologian (born 1928)

Karl Josef Becker S.J. was a German Catholic theologian and consultor for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 15 September 1977. He taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.


Deng Liqun, Chinese theorist and politician (born 1915)

Deng Liqun was a Chinese politician and theorist who was one of the leading figures of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the 1980s, most well known for his involvement with the party's propaganda work. Deng was born in Guidong County, Hunan province, and joined the CCP in 1936. He came from an intellectual family and joined the party out of intellectual commitment. He was often referred to as "Little Deng", to be distinguished from Deng Xiaoping, the "Old Deng".


10/02/2014

Stuart Hall, Jamaican-English sociologist and theorist (born 1932)

Stuart Henry McPhail Hall was a Jamaican-British Marxist sociologist, cultural theorist, and political activist. Hall – along with Richard Hoggart and Raymond Williams – was one of the founding figures of the school of thought known as British Cultural Studies or the Birmingham School of Cultural Studies.


Shirley Temple, American actress and diplomat (born 1928)

Shirley Temple Black was an American actress, singer, dancer, politician, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was named United States Ambassador to Ghana and to Czechoslovakia, and also served as Chief of Protocol of the United States.


10/02/2013

W. Watts Biggers, American author, screenwriter, and animator (born 1927)

William Watts "Buck" Biggers was an American novelist and co-creator of the long-running animated television series Underdog.


David Hartman, American-Israeli rabbi and philosopher, founded the Shalom Hartman Institute (born 1931)

David Hartman was an American-Israeli leader and philosopher of contemporary Judaism, founder of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, and a Jewish author.


10/02/2012

Lloyd Morrison, New Zealand banker and businessman, founded H. R. L. Morrison & Co (born 1957)

Hugh Richmond Lloyd Morrison was a Wellington, New Zealand-based investment banker and entrepreneur. He founded H.R.L. Morrison & Co in 1988, and Morrison & Co launched the infrastructure company Infratil in 1994.


Jeffrey Zaslow, American journalist and author (born 1958)

Jeffrey Lloyd Zaslow was an American author and journalist, and a columnist for The Wall Street Journal.


10/02/2011

Trevor Bailey, English cricketer and journalist (born 1923)

Trevor Edward Bailey was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster.


10/02/2010

Fred Schaus, American basketball player and coach (born 1925)

Frederick Appleton Schaus was an American basketball player, head coach and athletic director for the West Virginia University Mountaineers, player for the National Basketball Association's Fort Wayne Pistons and New York Knicks, general manager and head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, head coach of Purdue University basketball, and a member of the NCAA Basketball Committee. He was born in Newark, Ohio.


Charles Wilson, American lieutenant and politician (born 1933)

Charles Nesbitt Wilson was an American politician and naval officer who was a 12-term Democratic Representative from Texas's 2nd congressional district. Wilson is best known for leading Congress into supporting Operation Cyclone, the largest-ever Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) covert operation, which during the Carter and Reagan administrations supplied military equipment to the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War. His behind-the-scenes campaign was the subject of the non-fiction book Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History by George Crile III and the subsequent film Charlie Wilson's War, in which he was portrayed by Tom Hanks.


10/02/2008

Roy Scheider, American actor and boxer (born 1932)

Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor and amateur boxer, who achieved fame with his leading and supporting roles in celebrated films from the 1970s to the mid-1980s. He was nominated for two Academy Awards, one Golden Globe, and one BAFTA Award, and won both an Obie and Drama League Award for his stage performances.


10/02/2006

James Yancey, American record producer and rapper (born 1974)

James Dewitt Yancey, better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer, rapper, and composer. He emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip-hop scene in Detroit, Michigan, as a member of the group Slum Village. He was a founding member of the Soulquarians, a musical collective active during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Yancey and Madlib collaborated as the duo Jaylib, releasing the album Champion Sound. Yancey's final album, Donuts, was released three days before his death. He was also known for producing the Pharcyde album Labcabincalifornia.


10/02/2005

Arthur Miller, American actor, playwright, and author (born 1915)

Arthur Asher Miller was an American actor and writer of plays in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), and A View from the Bridge (1955). He wrote several screenplays, including The Misfits (1961). The drama Death of a Salesman is considered one of the best American plays of the 20th century.


10/02/2003

Edgar de Evia, Mexican-American photographer (born 1910)

Edgar Domingo Evia y Joutard, known professionally as Edgar de Evia, was a Mexican-born American interiors photographer.


Albert J. Ruffo, American lawyer and politician, Mayor of San Jose (born 1908)

Albert J. Ruffo was an American politician, philanthropist, educator, lawyer, and football coach.


Ron Ziegler, American politician, 14th White House Press Secretary (born 1939)

Ronald Louis Ziegler was the 13th White House Press Secretary, serving during President Richard Nixon's administration.


10/02/2002

Dave Van Ronk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1936)

David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of MacDougal Street".


10/02/2001

Abraham Beame, American academic and politician, 104th Mayor of New York City (born 1906)

Abraham David Beame was an English-born American accountant, investor, and Democratic Party politician who served from 1974 to 1977 as the 105th mayor of New York City. Beame presided over the city during the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy.


Buddy Tate, American saxophonist and clarinet player (born 1913)

George Holmes "Buddy" Tate was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.


10/02/2000

Jim Varney, American actor, comedian and writer (born 1949)

James Albert Varney Jr. was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his Emmy Award winning comedic role as Ernest P. Worrell, originating in a series of television commercial advertising campaigns, and later growing into a film and television franchise. He played Jed Clampett in the 1993 The Beverly Hillbillies film adaptation, and also covered a song for the film titled "Hot Rod Lincoln". He voiced Slinky Dog in the first two films of the Toy Story franchise (1995–1999). He died of lung cancer on February 10, 2000, leaving two posthumous releases, Daddy and Them and Atlantis: The Lost Empire.


10/02/1997

Brian Connolly, Scottish musician (born 1945)

Brian Francis Connolly was a Scottish singer-songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead singer of glam rock band Sweet between 1968 and 1979 and known for his charismatic stage presence and distinctive voice.


10/02/1995

Paul Monette, American author, poet, and activist (born 1945)

Paul Landry Monette was an American author, poet, and activist best known for his books about gay relationships. In 1992, he won the National Book Award for Nonfiction.


10/02/1993

Fred Hollows, New Zealand-Australian ophthalmologist and academic (born 1929)

Frederick Cossom Hollows was a New Zealand–Australian ophthalmologist who became known for his work in restoring eyesight for people in Australia and many other countries through initiatives such as The Fred Hollows Foundation.


10/02/1992

Alex Haley, American soldier, journalist, and author (born 1921)

Alexander Murray Palmer Haley was an American writer and the author of the 1976 book Roots: The Saga of an American Family. ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of the same name and aired it in 1977 to a record-breaking audience of 130 million viewers. In the United States, the book and miniseries raised the public awareness of black American history and inspired a broad interest in genealogy and family history.


10/02/1979

Edvard Kardelj, Slovene general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia (born 1910)

Edvard Kardelj, also known by the pseudonyms Bevc, Sperans, and Krištof, was a Yugoslav politician and economist. He was one of the leading members of the Communist Party of Slovenia before World War II. During the war, Kardelj was one of the leaders of the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People and a Slovene Partisan. After the war, he was a federal political leader in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He led the Yugoslav delegation in peace talks with Italy over the border dispute in the Julian March.


10/02/1975

Nikos Kavvadias, Greek sailor and poet (born 1910)

Nikos Kavvadias was a Greek poet, writer and a sailor by profession. He used his travels around the world, the life at sea and its adventures, as powerful metaphors for the escape of ordinary people, outside the boundaries of reality. His poems are widely regarded as belonging to symbolism, and he has been characterized by some as a poète maudit.


10/02/1967

Dionysios Kokkinos, Greek historian and author (born 1884)

Dionysios Kokkinos was a Greek historian, journalist, academic and writer.


10/02/1966

Billy Rose, American composer and songwriter (born 1899)

Billy Rose was an American impresario, theatrical showman, lyricist and columnist. For years both before and after World War II, Billy Rose was a major force in entertainment, with shows such as Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt (1931), Jumbo (1935), Billy Rose's Aquacade (1937), and Carmen Jones (1943). As a lyricist, he is credited with many songs, notably "Don't Bring Lulu" (1925), "Tonight You Belong to Me" (1926), "Me and My Shadow" (1927), "More Than You Know" (1929), "Without a Song" (1929), "It Happened in Monterrey" (1930), and "It's Only a Paper Moon" (1933).


10/02/1960

Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (born 1898)

Aloysius Viktor Stepinac was a Croatian prelate of the Catholic Church. Made a cardinal in 1953, Stepinac served as Archbishop of Zagreb from 1937 until his death.


10/02/1957

Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (born 1867)

Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American writer, teacher, and journalist. She is best known as the author of the children's book series Little House on the Prairie, published between 1932 and 1943, which was based on her childhood in a settler and pioneer family.


10/02/1956

Leonora Speyer, American poet and violinist (born 1872)

Leonora Speyer, Lady Speyer, was an American poet and violinist.


Emmanouil Tsouderos, Greek banker and politician, 132nd Prime Minister of Greece (born 1882)

Emmanouil Tsouderos was a Greek politician and statesman who served as the internationally recognized Prime Minister of Greece from 1941 to 1944 as head of the Greek government-in-exile during the Second World War. He resigned in 1944, following a mutiny in the exiled armed forces.


10/02/1950

Marcel Mauss, French sociologist and anthropologist (born 1872)

Marcel Israël Mauss was a French sociologist and anthropologist known as the "father of French ethnology". The nephew of Émile Durkheim, Mauss, in his academic work, crossed the boundaries between sociology and anthropology. Today, he is perhaps better recognised for his influence on the latter discipline, particularly with respect to his analyses of topics such as magic, sacrifice and gift exchange in different cultures around the world. Mauss had a significant influence upon Claude Lévi-Strauss, the founder of structural anthropology. His most famous work is The Gift (1925).


10/02/1945

Anacleto Díaz, Filipino lawyer and jurist (born 1878)

Anacleto Díaz was a Filipino jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.


10/02/1944

E. M. Antoniadi, Greek-French astronomer and chess player (born 1870)

Eugène Michel Antoniadi was a Greek-French astronomer. He is known for creating the Antoniadi scale as well as for his observations of the planets, and was a major opponent of the notion of Martian canals. He created some of the most detailed maps of Mars at the time, and many features on the planet are still known by the names he suggested. He also created the first map of Mercury, though it turned out to be incorrect.


10/02/1939

Pope Pius XI (born 1857)

Pope Pius XI was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of Vatican City upon its creation on 11 February 1929.


10/02/1932

Edgar Wallace, English author and screenwriter (born 1875)

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was a British writer of crime and adventure fiction.


10/02/1928

José Sánchez del Río, Mexican martyr and saint (born 1913)

José Luis "Joselito" Sánchez del Río was a Mexican Cristero put to death by soldiers of Mexican Army because he refused to renounce his Catholic faith. His death was seen as a largely political venture on the part of government officials in their attempt to stamp out dissent and crush religious freedom in the area.


10/02/1923

Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1845)

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was a German experimental physicist who produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays. In 1901, Röntgen became the first recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics "in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the remarkable rays subsequently named after him." The element roentgenium is named in his honor.


10/02/1920

Henry Strangways, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of South Australia (born 1832)

Henry Bull Templer Strangways was an Australian politician and Premier of South Australia.


10/02/1918

Abdul Hamid II, Ottoman sultan (born 1842)

Abdülhamid II or Abdul Hamid II was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a period of decline with rebellions, and presided over an unsuccessful war with the Russian Empire (1877–78), the loss of Egypt, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Tunisia, and Thessaly from Ottoman control (1877–1882), followed by a successful war against Greece in 1897, though Ottoman gains were tempered by subsequent Western European intervention.


Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian soldier and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1833)

Ernesto Teodoro Moneta was an Italian journalist, nationalist, revolutionary soldier and later a pacifist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. He adopted the motto In varietate unitas! which later inspired the motto of the European Union.


10/02/1917

John William Waterhouse, English painter (born 1849)

John William Waterhouse was an English painter known for working first in the Academic style and for then embracing the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. His paintings are known for their depictions of women from ancient Greek mythology, Arthurian legend, and the works of William Shakespeare. A high proportion depict a single young and beautiful woman in a historical costume and setting, though there are some ventures into Orientalist painting and genre painting, still mostly featuring women.


10/02/1913

Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, Greek long jumper (born 1888)

Konstantinos "Kostis" Tsiklitiras was a Greek athlete and Olympic champion.


10/02/1912

Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, English surgeon and academic (born 1827)

Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister was an English surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventive healthcare. Lister revolutionised the craft of surgery by the use of close anatomical observation, in the same manner that John Hunter revolutionised the science of surgery.


10/02/1906

Ezra Butler Eddy, American-Canadian businessman and politician (born 1827)

Ezra Butler Eddy was a Canadian businessman and political figure. Born in Vermont, Eddy moved to Canada, where he founded the E. B. Eddy Company, which produced matches and related wood products, later diversifying into pulp and paper and expanding to become a major manufacturer. Eddy later became a politician, serving as mayor of Hull, Quebec and as a Quebec legislator.


10/02/1904

John A. Roche, American lawyer and politician, 30th Mayor of Chicago (born 1844)

John A. Roche was an American politician from Illinois who served as Mayor of Chicago from 1887 to 1889. He was the 30th mayor of the city.


10/02/1891

Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian-Swedish mathematician and physicist (born 1850)

Sofya Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya was a Russian mathematician who made noteworthy contributions to analysis, partial differential equations and mechanics. She was a pioneer of equality for women in mathematics. Kovalevskaya was the first woman to earn a doctorate in mathematics, in the modern sense of that term, the first woman in Europe in modern times appointed to a full professorship in mathematics, as well as one of the first women to work for a scientific journal as an editor. According to historian of science Ann Hibner Koblitz, Kovalevskaya was "the greatest known woman scientist before the twentieth century".


10/02/1887

Ellen Wood, English author (born 1814)

Ellen Wood, better known as Mrs. Henry Wood, was an English novelist. She is best remembered for her 1861 novel East Lynne. Many of her books sold well internationally and were widely read in the United States. In her time, she surpassed Charles Dickens in fame in Australia.


10/02/1879

Honoré Daumier, French illustrator and painter (born 1808)

Honoré-Victorin Daumier was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the Second French Empire in 1870. He earned a living producing caricatures and cartoons in newspapers and periodicals such as La Caricature and Le Charivari, for which he became well known in his lifetime and is still remembered today. He was a republican democrat, who satirized and lampooned the monarchy, aristocracy, clergy, politicians, the judiciary, lawyers, police, detectives, the wealthy, the military, the bourgeoisie, as well as his countrymen and human nature in general.


10/02/1865

Heinrich Lenz, Estonian-Italian physicist and academic (born 1804)

Heinrich Friedrich Emil Lenz, usually cited as Emil Lenz or Heinrich Lenz in some countries, was a Russian physicist of Baltic German descent who is most noted for formulating Lenz's law in electrodynamics in 1834.


10/02/1857

David Thompson, English-Canadian surveyor and explorer (born 1770)

David Thompson was a British fur trader, surveyor, and cartographer, known to some native people as "Koo-Koo-Sint" or "the Stargazer". Over Thompson's career, he travelled 90,000 kilometres (56,000 mi) across North America, mapping 4.9 million square kilometres of the continent along the way. For this historic feat, Thompson has been described as the "greatest practical land geographer that the world has produced".


10/02/1854

José Joaquín de Herrera, Mexican politician and general (born 1792)

José Joaquín Antonio Florencio de Herrera y Ricardos was a Mexican statesman who served as president of Mexico three times, and as a general in the Mexican Army during the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848.


10/02/1846

Maria Aletta Hulshoff, Dutch feminist and pamphleteer (born 1781)

Maria Aletta Hulshoff was a Dutch Patriot, feminist and pamphleteer.


10/02/1837

Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet and author (born 1799)

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era. He is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet, as well as the founder of modern Russian literature.


10/02/1831

Peter Heywood, British naval officer (born 1772)

Peter Heywood was a Royal Navy officer who was on board HMS Bounty during the mutiny of 28 April 1789. He was later captured in Tahiti, tried and condemned to death as a mutineer, but subsequently pardoned. He resumed his naval career and eventually retired with the rank of post-captain, after 29 years of honourable service.


10/02/1829

Pope Leo XII (born 1760)

Pope Leo XII was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 28 September 1823 to his death in February 1829.


10/02/1782

Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian and author (born 1702)

Friedrich Christoph Oetinger was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, and theosopher.


10/02/1755

Montesquieu, French lawyer and philosopher (born 1689)

Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, intellectual, historian, and political philosopher.


10/02/1752

Henriette of France, French Princess (born1727)

Henriette of France was a French princess, a fille de France. She was the second child of King Louis XV and Queen Marie Leszczyńska, and the twin of Louise-Élisabeth of France. She was also considered the favorite daughter of the royal couple and was known for her sweet and gentle personality.


10/02/1686

William Dugdale, English genealogist and historian (born 1605)

Sir William Dugdale was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.


10/02/1660

Judith Leyster, Dutch painter (born 1609)

Judith Jans Leyster was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works, portraits, and still lifes. Her work was highly regarded by her contemporaries but largely forgotten after her death. Her entire oeuvre came to be attributed to Frans Hals or to her husband, Jan Miense Molenaer. In 1893, she was rediscovered and scholars began to attribute her works correctly.


10/02/1576

Wilhelm Xylander, German scholar, translator, and academic (born 1532)

Wilhelm Xylander was a German classical scholar and humanist. He served as rector of Heidelberg University in 1564.


10/02/1567

Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots (born 1545)

Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley was King of Scotland as the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, from 29 July 1565 until his murder. Darnley had one child with Mary, James VI of Scotland and I of England. Less than a year after the birth of his son, Darnley was murdered at Kirk o' Field in 1567. Many contemporary narratives describing his life and death refer to him as simply Lord Darnley, his title as heir apparent to the Earldom of Lennox.


10/02/1526

John V, Count of Oldenburg, German noble (born 1460)

John V, Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst was a member of the House of Oldenburg. He was the ruling Count of Oldenburg from 1500 to 1526. His parents were Gerhard VI, Count of Oldenburg and Adelheid of Tecklenburg.


10/02/1524

Catherine of Saxony, Archduchess of Austria (born 1468)

Catherine of Saxony, a member of the House of Wettin, was the second wife of Sigismund, Archduke of Austria and Regent of Tyrol.


10/02/1471

Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg (born 1413)

Frederick II of Brandenburg, nicknamed "the Iron" and sometimes "Irontooth" (Eisenzahn), was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1440 until his abdication in 1470, and was a member of the House of Hohenzollern.


10/02/1346

Blessed Clare of Rimini (born 1282)

Clare of Rimini was an Italian holy woman who was beatified.


10/02/1307

Temür Khan, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan (born 1265)

Öljeyitü Khan, born Temür, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Chengzong of Yuan, was the second emperor of the Yuan dynasty of China, ruling from 10 May 1294 to 10 February 1307. Apart from being the Emperor of China, he is considered as the sixth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, although it was only nominal due to the division of the empire. He was an able ruler of the Yuan dynasty, and his reign established the patterns of power for the next few decades.


10/02/1306

John "the Red" Comyn, Scottish nobleman

John Comyn III of Badenoch, nicknamed the Red, was a leading Scottish baron and magnate who played an important role in the First War of Scottish Independence. He served as Guardian of Scotland after the forced abdication of his uncle, King John Balliol, in 1296, and for a time commanded the defence of Scotland against English attacks. Comyn was stabbed to death by Robert the Bruce before the altar at the church of the Greyfriars at Dumfries.


10/02/1280

Margaret II, Countess of Flanders (born 1202)

Margaret, often called Margaret of Constantinople, ruled as Countess of Flanders during 1244–1278 and Countess of Hainaut during 1244–1253 and 1257–1280. She was the younger daughter of Count Baldwin IX and Marie of Champagne.


10/02/1242

Emperor Shijō of Japan (born 1231)

Emperor Shijō was the 87th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. This reign spanned the years 1232 through 1242.


10/02/1163

Baldwin III of Jerusalem (born 1130)

Baldwin III was the king of Jerusalem from 1143 until his death. Although he only took up sole rule in 1152 and died young, he was the longest-reigning of the 12th-century kings of Jerusalem. He expanded the borders of the kingdom, paved the way for the later kings' attempts to conquer Egypt, and acted as the defender of the other crusader states in the Levant.


10/02/1127

William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (born 1071)

William IX was the Duke of Aquitaine and Gascony and Count of Poitou between 1086 and his death. He was also one of the leaders of the Crusade of 1101.


10/02/0547

Scholastica, Christian nun

Scholastica was an Italian Christian consecrated virgin and the sister of Benedict of Nursia. She is traditionally regarded as the foundress of the Benedictine nuns. Scholastica is honored as a saint of the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and Anglican Communion. She was born in Italy, and a ninth-century tradition makes her the twin sister of Benedict. Her feast day is 10 February.


Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 9th February

Christian feast day: Austrebertha

Austrebertha was a French nun of the Middle Ages, who took the veil very young, and became a nun at the Port Monastery in the Ponthieu. She became abbess to the foundation of Pavilly, where she died at the beginning of the eighth century, at 74. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Her feast day is February 10.


Christian feast day: Charalambos

Saint Charalambos or Haralambos was an early Christian priest in Magnesia on the Maeander, a city in Asia Minor, in the diocese of the same name. His name Χαράλαμπος means glowing with joy in Greek. He lived during the reign of Septimius Severus (193–211), when Lucian was Proconsul of Magnesia. According to one source, at the time of his martyrdom in 202, Charalambos was 113 years old.


Christian feast day: Blessed Eusebia Palomino Yenes

Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. Beati is the plural form, referring to those who have undergone the process of beatification; they possess the title of "Blessed" before their names and are often referred to in English as "a Blessed" or, plurally, "Blesseds".


Christian feast day: José Sánchez del Río

José Luis "Joselito" Sánchez del Río was a Mexican Cristero put to death by soldiers of Mexican Army because he refused to renounce his Catholic faith. His death was seen as a largely political venture on the part of government officials in their attempt to stamp out dissent and crush religious freedom in the area.


Christian feast day: Scholastica

Scholastica was an Italian Christian consecrated virgin and the sister of Benedict of Nursia. She is traditionally regarded as the foundress of the Benedictine nuns. Scholastica is honored as a saint of the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and Anglican Communion. She was born in Italy, and a ninth-century tradition makes her the twin sister of Benedict. Her feast day is 10 February.


Christian feast day: February 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

February 9 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - February 11


Feast of St. Paul's Shipwreck (Malta)

Malta is the country with the most holidays in the European Union. Since 2020, any holidays falling on Saturdays or Sundays add an extra day to the workers' leave pool, reverting to the pre 2005 system.


Fenkil Day(commemoration of the Second Battle of Massawa) (Eritrea)

There are approximately sixteen nationally recognized public holidays in Eritrea. The most important national holidays are Independence Day, Martyrs' Day, and Revolution Day. Additional holidays follow the calendar of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and the two holy Eids, as Muslim holidays are observed as public holidays in Eritrea.


Kurdish Authors Union Day (Iraqi Kurdistan)

This is a list of public holidays in Iraq.


National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe (Italy)

National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe is an Italian commemoration of the victims of the Foibe and the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus, which led to the emigration of hundreds of thousands of local ethnic Italians from Yugoslavia after the end of the Second World War.


Arabian Leopard Day

The Arabian leopard is the smallest leopard subspecies. It was described in 1830 and is native to the Arabian Peninsula, where it was widely distributed in rugged hilly and montane terrain until the late 1970s. Today, the population is severely fragmented and thought to decline continuously. In 2008, an estimated 45–200 individuals in three isolated subpopulations were restricted to western Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen. However, as of 2023, it is estimated that 100–120 in total remain, with 70-84 mature individuals, in Oman and Yemen, and it is possibly extinct in Saudi Arabia. The current population trend is suspected to be decreasing.


What Happened on 9th February?

41 significant events took place on Wednesday, 9th February — stretching from 1258 to 2026. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.

10/02/2026

Shootings at a residence and a school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, leave nine people dead and 27 injured.

On February 10, 2026, a mass shooting occurred in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. On that afternoon, Jessie Van Rootselaar killed her mother and half-brother at their home before going to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where she killed six people and injured twenty-seven others before killing herself. Van Rootselaar was a former student of the school.


10/02/2021

The traditional Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is canceled for the first time because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is a festival held every year before Lent; it is considered the biggest celebration of Carnival in the world, with two million people per day on the streets. The first Carnival festival in Rio occurred in 1723.


Texas' worst energy infrastructure failure, the 2021 Texas power crisis, starts.

In February 2021, the state of Texas suffered a major power crisis, which came about during three severe winter storms sweeping across the United States on February 10–11, 13–17, and 15–20. The storms triggered the worst energy infrastructure failure in Texas state history, leading to shortages of water, food, and heat. More than 4.5 million homes and businesses were left without power, some for several days. At least 246 people were killed directly or indirectly, with some estimates as high as 702 killed as a result of the crisis.


10/02/2018

Nineteen people are killed and 66 injured when a Kowloon Motor Bus double decker on route 872 in Hong Kong overturns.

The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB) is a bus company operating franchised services in Hong Kong. It is the largest bus company in Hong Kong by fleet size and number of bus routes, with over 4,000 buses - mostly double deckers - and 420 routes. It is a subsidiary of Transport International.


10/02/2016

South Korea decides to stop the operation of the Kaesong joint industrial complex with North Korea in response to the launch of Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4.

South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and the Sea of Japan to the east. South Korea claims to be the sole legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands. It has a population of about 52 million, of which half live in the Seoul metropolitan area, the ninth most populous metropolitan area in the world, with other major cities being Busan, Daegu, and Incheon.


10/02/2013

Thirty-six people are killed and 39 others are injured in a stampede in Allahabad, India, during the Kumbh Mela festival.

On 10 February 2013, during the Hindu festival of Kumbh Mela, a stampede broke out at the train station in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, killing 42 people and injuring at least 45 people.


10/02/2009

The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collide in orbit, destroying both.

A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. Communications satellites are used for television, telephone, radio, internet, and military applications. Some communications satellites are in geostationary orbit 22,236 miles (35,785 km) above the equator, so that the satellite appears stationary at the same point in the sky; therefore the satellite dish antennas of ground stations can be aimed permanently at that spot and do not have to move to track the satellite. However, most form satellite constellations in low Earth orbit, where ground antennas must track the satellites and switch between them frequently.


10/02/2004

Forty-three people are killed and three are injured when a Fokker 50 crashes near Sharjah International Airport.

The Fokker 50 is a turboprop-powered airliner manufactured and supported by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It was designed as an improved version of the successful Fokker F27 Friendship. The Fokker 60 is a stretched freighter version of the Fokker 50.


10/02/2003

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.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance between 32 member states—30 in Europe and two in North America. Founded in the aftermath of World War II, NATO was established with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. The organization serves as a system of collective security and deterrence, whereby its independent members agree to defend each-other from attack by any outside party. This is enshrined in Article 5 of the treaty, which states that an armed attack against the territory of one member shall be considered an attack against them all.


10/02/1996

IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time.

International Business Machines Corporation, doing business as IBM, is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is a publicly traded company and one of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. IBM is the largest industrial research organization in the world, with 19 research facilities across a dozen countries; for 29 consecutive years, from 1993 to 2021, it held the record for most annual U.S. patents generated by a business.


10/02/1989

Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee, becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.

Ronald Harmon Brown was an American politician and lobbyist who served as the 30th United States secretary of commerce during the first term of President Bill Clinton. Before this, he was chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). He was the first African American to hold these positions. He was killed, along with 34 others, in a 1996 plane crash in Croatia.


10/02/1984

Kenyan soldiers kill an estimated 5,000 ethnic Somali Kenyans in the Wagalla massacre.

The Kenya Army is the land arm of the Kenya Defence Forces.


10/02/1972

Ras Al Khaimah joins the United Arab Emirates, now making up seven emirates.

Ras Al Khaimah, often referred to its initials RAK, is an industrial port city and the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. The city had a population of 191,753 people in 2025, and is the sixth-most populous city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain and Ajman. The city is divided by a creek into two parts: old town in the west and Al Nakheel in the east. The town is the successor to the Islamic era port and trading hub of Julfar.


10/02/1967

The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.

The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution addresses issues related to presidential succession and disability.


10/02/1964

Melbourne–Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with and sinks the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, killing 82.

The Melbourne–Voyager collision, also known as the Melbourne–Voyager incident or simply the Voyager incident, was a collision between two warships of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN); the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne and the destroyer HMAS Voyager.


10/02/1962

Cold War: Captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.

The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc. It began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.


10/02/1954

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. A General of the Army, Eisenhower was the supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force. His successful leadership in Operation Torch (1942–1943) and Operation Overlord was pivotal to the Allied victory in World War II.


10/02/1947

The Paris Peace Treaties are signed by Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland and the Allies of World War II.

The Paris Peace Treaties were signed on 10 February 1947 following the end of World War II in 1945. The Paris Peace Conference lasted from 29 July until 15 October 1946. The victorious wartime Allied powers negotiated the details of peace treaties with the former European Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis powers, namely Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland. They were allowed to fully resume their responsibilities as sovereign states in international affairs and to qualify for membership in the United Nations.


10/02/1943

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.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.


10/02/1940

The Soviet Union begins mass deportations of Polish citizens from occupied eastern Poland to Siberia.

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. It was the world's third-most populous country, the largest by area, and bordered twelve countries. A diverse multinational state, it was organized as a federal union of national republics, with the largest and most populous being the Russian SFSR. In practice, its government and economy were highly centralized. As a one-party state governed by the Communist Party, it was the flagship communist state. Its capital and largest city was Moscow.


10/02/1939

Spanish Civil War: The Nationalists conclude their conquest of Catalonia and seal the border with France.

The Spanish Civil War was fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalist rebels. Republicans loyal to the left-leaning Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic included socialists, anarchists, communists, and separatists, supported by the Soviet Union. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of fascist Falangists, monarchists, conservatives, and traditionalists, supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Initially led by a military junta, until General Francisco Franco was appointed supreme leader on 1 October 1936 of what he called the Spanish State. Due to the international political climate at the time, the war was variously viewed as class struggle, religious struggle, or struggle between republican democracy and dictatorship, revolution and counterrevolution, or between fascism and communism. The Nationalists won the war in early 1939, and ruled Spain until Franco's death in November 1975.


10/02/1936

Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italian troops launch the Battle of Amba Aradam against Ethiopian defenders.

The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression waged by Italy against Ethiopia, which lasted from October 1935 to May 1936. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Italian Invasion, and in Italy as the Ethiopian War. The war is regarded as the largest colonial campaign in history. Despite stiff resistance, the Ethiopian forces were overwhelmed by the technological superiority of the Italians, and the conflict ended with the fall of Addis Ababa and the formal annexation of Ethiopia into the Italian Empire.


10/02/1933

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.

Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two opponents throwing punches at each other for a predetermined amount of time. It is usually done wearing protective equipment, such as protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards.


10/02/1930

The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng launches the failed Yên Bái mutiny in hope of overthrowing French protectorate over Vietnam.

The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng, also known as the Vietnamese Nationalist Party and abbreviated VNQDĐ or Việt Quốc, was a nationalist and democratic socialist political group that sought independence from French colonial rule in Vietnam during the early 20th century. Its origins lie in a group of young Hanoi-based intellectuals who began publishing revolutionary material in the mid-1920s. In 1927, after the publishing house failed because of French harassment and censorship, the VNQDĐ was formed under the leadership of Nguyễn Thái Học. Modelling itself on the Kuomintang of Nationalist China the VNQDĐ gained a small following among northerners, particularly teachers and intellectuals. The party, which was less successful among peasants and industrial workers, and was organised in small clandestine cells.


10/02/1923

Texas Tech University is founded as Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas.

Texas Tech University is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established in 1923 and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University System. As of fall 2025, the university enrolled 42,455 students, making it the sixth-largest university in Texas.


10/02/1920

Józef Haller de Hallenburg performs the symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.

Józef Haller von Hallenburg was a Polish lieutenant general and legionary in the Polish Legions during the First World War. He was a harcmistrz, the president of the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association (ZHP), and a political and social activist. He was also the cousin of Stanisław Haller.


About 75% of the population in Zone I votes to join Denmark in the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites.

Denmark is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark, also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland in the north Atlantic Ocean. Metropolitan Denmark, also called "continental Denmark" or "Denmark proper", consists of the northern Jutland peninsula and an archipelago of 406 islands. It is the southernmost of the Scandinavian countries, lying southwest of Sweden, south of Norway, and north of Germany, with which it shares a short border. Denmark proper is situated between the North Sea to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east.


10/02/1906

HMS Dreadnought, the first of a revolutionary new breed of battleships, is christened.

HMS Dreadnought was a Royal Navy battleship, the design of which revolutionised naval power. The ship's entry into service in 1906 represented such an advance in naval technology that her name came to be associated with an entire generation of battleships, the dreadnoughts, as well as the class of ships named after her. Likewise, the generation of ships she made obsolete became known as pre-dreadnoughts. Admiral Sir John "Jacky" Fisher, First Sea Lord of the Board of Admiralty, is credited as the father of Dreadnought. Shortly after he assumed office in 1904, he ordered design studies for a battleship armed solely with 12 in (305 mm) guns and a speed of 21 knots. He convened a Committee on Designs to evaluate the alternative designs and to assist in the detailed design work.


10/02/1862

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.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.


10/02/1861

Jefferson Davis is notified by telegraph that he has been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America.

Jefferson F. Davis was the only president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, leading the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Before the war, he was a member of the Democratic Party who represented Mississippi in the House of Representatives from 1845 to 1846 and in the United States Senate from 1857 to 1861. From 1853 to 1857, he served as the 23rd United States secretary of war during the administration of President Franklin Pierce.


10/02/1846

First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon: British defeat Sikhs in the final battle of the war.

The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British Empire from 1845 to 1846 around the Firozpur district of Punjab. It resulted in the defeat and partial subjugation of the Sikh Empire and cession of Jammu and Kashmir as a separate princely state under British suzerainty.


10/02/1840

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was longer than those of any of her predecessors, constituted the Victorian era, a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.


10/02/1814

Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Champaubert ends in French victory over the Russians and the Prussians.

The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a global series of conflicts fought by a fluctuating array of European coalitions against the French First Republic (1803–1804) under the First Consul followed by the First French Empire (1804–1815) under the Emperor of the French, Napoleon I. The wars originated in political forces arising from the French Revolution (1789–1799) and from the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802) and produced a period of French domination over Continental Europe. The wars are categorised as seven conflicts, five named after the coalitions that fought Napoleon, plus two named for their respective theatres: the War of the Third Coalition, War of the Fourth Coalition, War of the Fifth Coalition, War of the Sixth Coalition, War of the Seventh Coalition, the Peninsular War, and the French invasion of Russia.


10/02/1763

French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.

The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a conflict in North America between Great Britain and France, along with their respective Indigenous allies. Historians generally consider it part of the global Seven Years' War, which lasted from 1756 to 1763, although in the United States it is often viewed as a distinct conflict unassociated with any larger European war.


10/02/1712

Huilliches in Chiloé rebel against Spanish encomenderos.

The Huilliche uprising of 1712 was an Indigenous uprising against the Spanish encomenderos of the Chiloé Archipelago, which was then a part of the Captaincy General of Chile. The rebellion took place in the central part of the archipelago.


10/02/1567

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.

Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley was King of Scotland as the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, from 29 July 1565 until his murder. Darnley had one child with Mary, James VI of Scotland and I of England. Less than a year after the birth of his son, Darnley was murdered at Kirk o' Field in 1567. Many contemporary narratives describing his life and death refer to him as simply Lord Darnley, his title as heir apparent to the Earldom of Lennox.


10/02/1502

Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India.

Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese mariner, explorer and nobleman. His discovery of the first direct maritime route between Europe and India via the Cape of Good Hope and across the Indian Ocean from Malindi in Kenya to Kozhikode was to open up European exploration of, and commerce with, India, and is considered a landmark event and a turning point in world history.


10/02/1392

Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos marries Helena Dragaš, daughter of the Serbian Prince Constantine Dragaš. She is crowned as empress the following day.

Manuel II Palaiologos or Palaeologus was Byzantine emperor from 1391 to 1425. Shortly before his death he was tonsured a monk and received the name Matthaios (Ματθαίος). Manuel was a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, which sometimes threatened to capture his territory outright. Accordingly he continued his father's practice of soliciting Western European aid against the Ottomans, and personally visited several foreign courts to plead his cause. These efforts failed, although an Ottoman civil war and Byzantine victories against Latin neighbors helped Manuel's government survive and slightly expand its influence. His wife Helena Dragaš saw to it that their sons, John VIII and Constantine XI, became emperors. He is commemorated by the Greek Orthodox Church on 21 July.


10/02/1355

The St Scholastica Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days.

The St Scholastica Day riot began in Oxford, England, on 10 February 1355, the feast day of St Scholastica. The disturbance began when two students from the University of Oxford complained about the quality of wine served to them in the Swindlestock Tavern, which stood at the crossroads now known as Carfax, in the centre of the town. The students quarrelled with the taverner; the argument quickly escalated to blows. The inn's customers joined in on both sides, and the resulting mêlée turned into a riot. The violence started by the bar brawl continued over three days, with armed gangs entering the town from the countryside to assist the townspeople. University halls and students' accommodation were raided and the inhabitants murdered; there were some reports of scholars being scalped. Around twenty townsfolk were killed, as were up to sixty-three members of the university.


10/02/1306

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.

Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, 25 miles (40 km) from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the historic county of Dumfriesshire.


10/02/1258

The Siege of Baghdad ends with the surrender of the last Abbasid caliph to Hulegu Khan, a prince of the Mongol Empire.

The Siege of Baghdad, also known as the Sack of Baghdad, took place in early 1258. A large army commanded by Hulegu, a prince of the Mongol Empire, attacked the historic capital of the Abbasid Caliphate after a series of provocations from its ruler, caliph al-Musta'sim. Within a few weeks, Baghdad fell and was sacked by the Mongol army—al-Musta'sim was killed alongside hundreds of thousands of his subjects. The city's fall has traditionally been seen as marking the end of the Islamic Golden Age; in reality, its ramifications are uncertain.