Today in History: February 10, ‘Bridge of Spies’ prisoner exchange

Today is Tuesday, Feb. 10, the 41st day of 2026. There are 324 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Feb. 10, 1962, on the Glienicke Bridge connecting West Berlin and East Germany, the Soviet Union exchanged captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers for Rudolf Abel, a Soviet spy held by the United States.

Also on this date:

In 1763, the treaty ending the Seven Years’ War was signed in Paris, with France ceding its territory in Canada to Great Britain.

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

In 1959, an F4-intensity tornado tore through the St. Louis area, killing 21 people and injuring 345.

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

In 1973, at least 40 workers were killed in an explosion and collapse of a large liquefied natural gas tank that was undergoing routine maintenance in the New York City borough of Staten Island.

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

In 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; however, he was defeated by Deep Blue in a rematch the following year.)

In 2009, a U.S. commercial satellite and a defunct Russian satellite accidentally collided in orbit over Siberia, destroying both and creating a large debris field in space.

In 2018, a double-decker bus lost control and crashed in a Hong Kong suburb, killing 19 people and injuring...