TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

Feb. 10, 1962

The Soviet Union exchanged captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for Rudolf Abel, a Soviet spy held by the United States. ALSO ON THIS DATE

1840

Britain’s Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of SaxeCoburg and Gotha.

1841

Upper Canada and Lower Canada were proclaimed united under an Act of Union passed by the British Parliament.

1863

Showman P.T. Barnum staged the wedding of General Tom Thumb and Mercy Lavinia Warren _ both little persons _ in New York City.

1936

Nazi Germany’s Reichstag passed a law investing the Gestapo secret police with absolute authority, exempt from any legal review.

1949

Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” opened at Broadway’s Morosco Theater with Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman.

1959

A major tornado tore through the St. Louis area, killing 21 people and causing heavy damage.

1967

The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, dealing with presidential disability and succession, was ratified as Minnesota and Nevada adopted it.

1968

U.S. figure skater Peggy Fleming, 19, won America’s only gold medal of the Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, France, in the ladies’ singles event.

1981

Eight people were killed when a fire set by a busboy broke out at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino.

1992

Boxer Mike Tyson was convicted in Indianapolis of raping Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant. Author Alex Haley died in Seattle at age 70.