February 12th

North Korea confirms it has successfully tested a nuclear device that could be weaponized.

The 2010 Winter Olympics opened in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The games got off to a tragic start when a luger from the Republic of Georgia, Nodar Kumaritashvili, dies tragically in a crash during training run.

A commuter plane crashed into a suburban Buffalo, N.Y., home, killing all 49 aboard and a person in the house.

Defying a California law, San Francisco officials began performing weddings for same-sex couples.

The war crimes trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic began in The Hague.

NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.

Charles M. Schulz, creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip, died at age 77.

The Senate voted to acquit President Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Edvard Munch's “The Scream” is stolen. The iconic painting, one of a series of four, was recovered several months later.

The first release of American prisoners of war from the Vietnam war took place.

George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" premiered in New York City.

The cornerstone for the Lincoln Memorial was laid in Washington, D.C.

Pu Yi, the last emperor of the Manchu (Ch'ing) dynasty in China, renounced his throne following the establishment of a republic under Sun Yat-sen.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded in New York.

The Utah Territory granted women the right to vote (revoked in 1887).

Chile formally proclaimed its independence from Spain.

Naturalist Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England.

Led by philanthropist James Edward Oglethorpe, the first English colonists arrived in Georgia, at the site of Savannah.

The Great Northern War begins in Northern Europe between Denmark–Norway, Saxony and Russia and the Swedish Empire.

Lady Jane Grey, who had claimed the throne of England for nine days, was beheaded after being charged with treason.