The Postal Telegraph-Cable Company of New York City delivers the first singing telegram on this date. but independent singing telegram companies, specializing in often costumed personal delivery of gift messages, have kept up the tradition.
Despite initial criticism by Western Union executives concerned with the propriety of the medium, the company's messengers delivered musical greetings in person until World War II. Singing by phone operators was resumed after the war, but faced declining popularity until Western Union dropped the service in 1974. Independent singing telegram companies, specializing in often costumed personal delivery of gift messages, have kept up the tradition.
February 10, 1940 -
Puss Gets the Boot, the cartoon short is released by MGM on this date. It's the first appearance of Tom and Jerry.
Yeah, yeah, I know that the cat is called Jasper in this cartoon. But dammit, it's Tom, none the less.
February 10, 1942 –
The first gold record was presented to Glenn Miller for Chattanooga Choo Choo for selling 1.2 million copies in just nine months. There was no official rule set at the time to qualify.
It was a framed, gold-lacquered stamper, which later became symbolic for a million-record sales. Miller quipped, “Thanks a million, two-hundred-thousand!”
February 10, 1945 -
The no. 1 song in America, on this date, was Rum and Coca Cola by Andrews Sisters. (The copyright holder of the song was Morey Amsterdam of The Dick Van Dyke Show fame, but that's another story.)
It's nice to think back in the more 'innocent' era of America, songs about when mother and daughter prostitute rings in the Caribbean were all the rage.
February 10, 1956 -
The series about a boy and his horse is set on the Goose Bar Ranch in Montana, My Friend Flicka premiered on CBS TV on this date.
Based on their 1943 feature film, this was 20th Century Fox's first entry into television production.
February 10, 1957 -
Allied Artists' sci-fi film Not of This Earth, directed by Roger Corman and starring Paul Birch, Beverly Garland, and Morgan Jones, premiered in US theaters on this date.
This was the final theatrical feature film to be shot by veteran director of photography John J. Mescall, ending a career of about 35 years going back to the silent days.
February 10, 1971 -
Carole King releases her seminal album Tapestry on this date. The photograph on the album sleeve featuring Carole King seated on a window sill was taken at her California home.
Tapestry was a groundbreaking album, which helped popularize the singer/songwriter genre. It stayed on the American album charts for over six years, selling over 24 million copies worldwide.
February 10, 1978 -
Paul Schrader's first directing effort, Blue Collar, starring Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel and Yaphet Kotto, premiered in the U.S. on this date.
The film was a very tense shoot, nearly giving writer and director Paul Schrader a nervous breakdown and caused him to quit the film business (for a while). The incident that nearly caused Schrader to have a mental breakdown, was when Richard Pryor pulled a gun on Schrader and told him there was no way he was ever going to do more than three takes for a scene.
Another failed ACME product
Today in History:
February 10, 60 CE -
St. Paul was believed to have been shipwrecked near Malta while en route to Rome for trial for practicing Catholicism on this date. (It shouldn't have been a shock to the Romans that St. Paul was practicing Catholicism when his first name was St.)
February 10, 1355 -
The Feast day of Saint Scholastica seemed to be going on as usual at the the University of Oxford on this date. Saint Scholastica, sister of Saint Benedictine, is the patron saint of of nuns, education, and protectoress of people in storms, among other things. Two students (their names may have been Walter Spryngeheuse and Roger de Chesterfield, but I don't know, I wasn't there,) were enjoying the day off from school at the Swindlestock Tavern, a local bar. Much drinking ensued and somehow the bartender, John Croidon, insulted the students and the students beat up the bartender.
Residents responded violently, and a riot broke out between the students at Oxford and the residents of the surrounding town lasted for three days and left more than 90 people dead. The townsfolk were found to be responsible and were ordered to attend Mass for the souls of the dead students every year on the anniversary of the riot. They were also required to swear an oath acknowledging the University’s privileges, and pay a fine of 63 pence – one for each dead student. This continued until 1825 when the Mayor refused, but was only rescinded by Parliament in 1955.
February 10, 1535 -
12 Anabaptists ran nude through the cold and snowy streets of Amsterdam on this date. (Once again, I'm sure there's an explanation but why ask me?)
And you wonder why Anabaptism didn't catch on big in the US - I just wanted to put that little thought in you mind today.
February 10, 1840 -
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, (whose first language was German, was taught English and French, and became virtually trilingual, though her mastery of the conjugation of the past-participles irregular verbs in English remained incomplete which was luckily not on the English Monarchy exam), married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (proving she also failed biology,) on this date.
She arranged marriages for her nine children (mostly to their first cousins) and forty-two grandchildren (mostly to their own first cousins - they needed charts and grafts to make sure they didn't marry their own brothers and sisters) across the continent, tying Europe together; this earned her the nickname "the grandmother of Europe".
Oh those wacky inbred royals.
February 10, 1855 -
US citizenship laws were amended to include all children of US parents born abroad on this date.
February 10, 1863 -
Little people Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren were married in a ceremony at New York's Grace Episcopal Church. P. T. Barnum footed the bill for the wedding, and generated tremendous publicity (and revenue - reception tickets $75, adjusted for inflation, $1250 in today's dollars) in the weeks prior to and following the nuptials.
February 10, 1920 -
Polish general and politician Józef Haller, performed a symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
February 10, 1967 -
The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on this date.
The 25th Amendment (Amendment XXV) to the United States Constitution deals with succession to the Presidency and establishes procedures both for filling a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, as well as responding to Presidential disabilities. It supersedes the ambiguous wording of Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution, which doesn't explicitly state whether the Vice President becomes the President if the President died, resigned, was removed from office or was unable to discharge the Presidential powers.
Mike Pence never seemed to get the memo on this.
February 10, 1968 -
Peggy Fleming won the gold medal in women's figure skating for the US at the Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, France, on this date.
In 1994, Sports Illustrated named her one of the 40 individuals who most significantly altered or elevated sports in the previous 40 years.
And so it goes
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