The Christian season of Lent begins today, 40 days before Easter (not counting Sundays). Many Christians attend church services on Ash Wednesday to receive ashes on their foreheads in the sign of the cross. (Ashes are a symbol of penance in the Old Testament and in pagan antiquity.) In the Roman Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting. In the sixth century, Christians who had committed grave faults were obliged to do public penance. On Ash Wednesday, they donned a hair shirt (which they wore for 40 days), and the local bishop blessed them and sprinkled them with ashes. Then, while others recited the Seven Penitential Psalms, the penitents were turned out of the holy place. They could not enter the church again until Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter), when they received absolution.
Daily Calendar for Wednesday, February 10, 2027
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Daily Calendar
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Wednesday, February 10, 2027
Born
- Boris Pasternak (poet) –
- Alan Hale (actor) –
- Jimmy Durante (comedian) –
- Bill Tilden, Jr. (tennis player) –
- John F. Enders (scientist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1954) –
- Bertolt Brecht (dramatist) –
- Lon Chaney, Jr. (actor) –
- Leontyne Price (opera singer) –
- Robert Wagner, Jr. (actor) –
- Roberta Flack (singer) –
- Adrienne Clarkson (Canadian Governor General) –
- Mark Spitz (9-time Olympic gold medal swimmer; was born in Modesto, California) –
- Greg Norman (golfer) –
- George Stephanopoulos (political consultant & commentator) –
- Victor Davis (Olympic swimmer) –
- Laura Dern (actress) –
- Emma Roberts (actress) –
- Makenzie Vega (actress) –
Died
- Laura Ingalls Wilder (author) –
- Billy Rose (composer & bandleader) –
- Alex Haley (author) –
- Jim Varney (actor) –
- Retired Lt. Gen. Vernon Walters (ambassador to the UN and Germany) –
- Arthur Miller (playwright) –
- Roy Scheider (actor) –
- Shirley Temple Black (actress) –
Events
- Edmond Halley became second Astronomer Royal of England –
- France ceded Canada to England at the Treaty of Paris, ending the French and Indian War –
- Treaty of Paris is signed, formally ending the French and Indian War –
- Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom married Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg-Gotha –
- Act of Union merged Upper and Lower Canada –
- Showman P. T. Barnum staged the wedding of General Tom Thumb and Mercy Lavinia Warren (both little people) in New York. They had to stand on a piano to greet their guests. –
- Alanson Crane patented a fire extinguisher system –
- Ontario’s first free public library opened, in Guelph –
- German government informed the U.S. that after March 1, 1916, armed merchantmen would be treated as warships and attacked without warning (WW I) –
- New Delhi became the capital of India –
- The New York City-based Postal Telegraph Company introduced the first singing telegram –
- The first gold record was awarded for sales of over one million copies. It was Glenn Miller’s Chattanooga Choo Choo” on RCA” –
- Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman premiered in NY –
- Soviets released U.S. U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers in Berlin in exchange for convicted Soviet agent Rudolf Abel –
- The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, providing a contingency plan for presidential succession –
- Peggy Fleming won an Olympic Gold medal in figure skating –
- Arab terrorists killed 1 Israeli and wounded 11 others in an attack at the Munich, West Germany, airport –
- 28 skiers performed backflips while holding hands, Bromont Québec –
- Bonnie Blair became the first U.S. medal winner at the Winter Olympics in Albertville in the women’s 500-meter speed skating. Also the first woman in Olympic history to win consecutive Winter Olympic gold medals –
- Garry Kasparov began chess match against computer Deep Blue”“ –
- Brett Hull scored his 700th NHL goal –
- Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics sank his 2,561st 3-pointer, breaking the NBA record set by Reggie Miller –
Weather
- Early morning tornado at Albany, Georgia, caused over $3 million loss –
- Thundersnow (heavy snow accompanied by thunder and lightning) in northern New Hampshire –
- A rare February tornado in southern Oklahoma killed at least 9 people –