Today is Ash Wednesday, Feb. 10, the 41st day of 2016. There are 325 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Feb. 10, 1996, world chess champion Garry Kasparov lost the first game of a match in Philadelphia against an IBM computer dubbed “Deep Blue.” (Kasparov ended up winning the match, 4 games to 2; he was defeated by Deep Blue in a rematch the following year.)

On this date:

In 1763, Britain, Spain and France signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the Seven Years’ War (also known as the French and Indian War in North America).

In 1840, Britain’s Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe- Coburg and Gotha.

In 1936, Nazi Germany’s Reichstag passed a law investing the Gestapo secret police with absolute authority exempt from any legal review.

In 1949, Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” opened at Broadway’s Morosco Theater with Lee J. Cobb as Willy Loman.

In 1959, a major tornado tore through the St. Louis area, killing 21 people and causing heavy damage.

In 1962, the Soviet Union exchanged captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for Rudolf Abel, a Soviet spy held by the United States. Republican George W. Romney announced his ultimately successful candidacy for governor of Michigan.

In 1966, the Jacqueline Susann novel “Valley of the Dolls” was published by Bernard Geis Associates.

In 1967, the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, dealing with presidential disability and succession, was ratified as Minnesota and Nevada adopted it.

In 1968, U.S. figure skater Peggy Fleming won America’s only gold medal of the Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, France.

In 1981, eight people were killed when a fire set by a busboy broke out at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel casino.

The Associated Press

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