TODAY IN HISTORY

 World chess champion Garry Kasparov loses game to computer

On February 10, 1996, after three hours, world chess champion Garry Kasparov loses the first game of a six-game match against Deep Blue, an IBM computer capable of evaluating 200 million moves per second.  Man was ultimately victorious over machine, however, as Kasparov bested Deep Blue in the match with three wins and two ties and took home the $400,000 prize. An estimated 6 million people worldwide followed the action online.

Kasparov had previously defeated Deep Thought, the prototype for Deep Blue developed by IBM researchers in 1989, but he and other chess grandmasters had, on occasion, lost to computers in games that lasted an hour or less. The February 1996 contest was significant in that it represented the first time a human and a computer had duked it out in a regulation, six-game match, in which each player had two hours to make 40 moves, two hours to finish the next 20 moves and then another 60 minutes to wrap up the game.

Kasparov, who was born in 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan, became the Soviet Union’s junior chess champion at age 13 and in 1985, at age 22, the youngest world champ ever when he beat legendary Soviet player Anatoly Karpov. Considered by many to be the greatest chess player in the history of the game, Kasparov was known for his swashbuckling style of play and his ability to switch tactics mid-game.

In 1997, a rematch took place between Kasparov and an enhanced Deep Blue. Kasparov won the first game, the computer the second, with the next three games a draw. On May 11, 1997, Deep Blue came out on top with a surprising sixth game win–and the $700,000 match prize.

In 2003, Kasparov battled another computer program, “Deep Junior.” The match ended in a tie. Kasparov retired from professional chess in 2005.

ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY

2014

Iconic child star Shirley Temple dies at 85

On February 10, 2014, Shirley Temple Black, who as a child in the 1930s became one of Hollywood’s most successful stars, dies at her Woodside, California, home at age 85. The plucky, curly-haired performer sang, danced and acted in dozens of films by the time she was a teen; as an adult, she gave up making movies and served as a U.S. diplomat.

ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY

1957

Laura Ingalls Wilder, chronicler of American frontier life, dies

On February 10, 1957, Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the best-selling “Little House” series of children’s novels based on her childhood on the American frontier, dies at age 90 in Mansfield, Missouri. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls was born in a log cabin near Pepin, Wisconsin, on February 7, 1867, the second of Charles and Caroline Quiner Ingalls’ four daughters. As a child, she lived with her family in Indian Territory in Kansas, as well as in farming communities in Minnesota and Iowa. In the late 1870s, the Ingalls moved to Dakota Territory, settling in present-day De Smet, South Dakota. Laura Ingalls worked as a school teacher in the area, starting in her teens, and in 1885, married Almanzo Wilder, a local homesteader 10 years her senior. In 1886, the couple had a daughter; their only other child, a son, died shortly after his birth in 1889.

COLONIAL AMERICA

1763

The French and Indian War ends

The Seven Years’ War, a global conflict known in America as the French and Indian War, ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by France, Great Britain and Spain. In the early 1750s, France’s expansion into the Ohio River valley repeatedly brought the country into armed conflict with the British colonies. In 1756, the British formally declared war against France.

COLD WAR

1962

U.S.-Soviet spy swap

On February 10, 1962, American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is released by the Soviets in exchange for Soviet Colonel Rudolf Abel, a senior KGB spy who was caught in the United States five years earlier. The two men were brought to separate sides of the Glienicker Bridge, which connects East and West Berlin across Lake Wannsee. As the spies waited, negotiators talked in the center of the bridge where a white line divided East from West. Finally, Powers and Abel were waved forward and crossed the border into freedom at the same moment–8:52 a.m., Berlin time. Just before their transfer, Frederic Pryor–an American student held by East German authorities since August 1961–was released to American authorities at another border checkpoint.

VIETNAM WAR

1971

Journalists killed in helicopter crash

Four journalists, including photographer Larry Burrows of Life magazine, Kent Potter of United Press International, Nenri Huett of the Associated Press and Keisaburo Shimamoto of Newsweek, die in a South Vietnamese helicopter operating in Laos. 

19TH CENTURY

1846

Latter-day Saints begin exodus to Utah

Their leader assassinated and their homes under attack, the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as Mormons) of Nauvoo, Illinois, begin a long westward migration that eventually brings them to the valley of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. 

ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY

1972

Ziggy Stardust makes his earthly debut

It was one of those events that virtually nobody witnessed, but many wish they had: the concert at London’s Toby Jug pub on February 10, 1972, when the relatively minor rocker named David Bowie became the spaceman Ziggy Stardust. While it might be said of many such historic  moments—like John Lennon meeting Paul McCarthy, or Elvis ad-libbing “That’s All Right (Mama)” between takes at Sun Studios—that their significance became clear only in hindsight, there was at least one man who knew exactly where Ziggy’s earthly debut would lead: David Bowie himself.

ART, LITERATURE, AND FILM HISTORY

2006

Final episode of “Arrested Development” airs on Fox

Celebrated by critics and beloved by its relatively small but devout fan base, the Fox television series Arrested Development airs its last episode on Fox on February 10, 2006. Arrested Development, created by Mitchell Hurwitz, premiered in November 2003. 

NATURAL DISASTERS & ENVIRONMENT

1970

Avalanche buries skiers in France

On February 10, 1970, an avalanche crashes down on a ski resort in Val d’Isere, France, killing 42 people, mostly young skiers. This disaster was the worst such incident in French history. The resort at Val d’Isere was operated by a nonprofit youth organization and attracted many young ski enthusiasts. On the morning of February 10, most of the guests were eating breakfast in a large room facing the mountain. Suddenly, there was an explosion-like sound and approximately 100,000 cubic yards of snow came rushing down the mountain. Three trail workers who were on the hill were swept away and killed.

CRIME

1992

Star boxer Mike Tyson convicted of rape

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, accused of raping 18-year-old beauty-pageant contestant Desiree Washington, is found guilty by an Indiana jury. The following month, Tyson was given a 10-year prison sentence, with four years suspended. Mike Tyson rose to fame in 1986 when he beat Trevor Berbick and became, at age 20, the youngest heavyweight champ in boxing history. Born June 30, 1966, in Brooklyn, New York, Tyson had a troubled childhood and was sent to reform school in upstate New York. There, his boxing talent was discovered and he flourished under the tutelage of legendary trainer Cus D’Amato. Tyson turned pro in 1985 and the following year became heavyweight champ, a title he retained until 1990, when he was upset by James “Buster” Douglas.

INVENTIONS & SCIENCE

1966

Auto safety crusader Ralph Nader testifies before Congress

On February 10, 1966, Ralph Nader, a young lawyer and the author of the groundbreaking book “Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile,” testifies before Congress for the first time about unsafe practices in the auto industry.