MOMENTS IN TIME - Feb. 3, 2011

The History Channel

* On Feb. 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln is born in Hodgenville, Ky. As an adult, Lincoln’s sense of humor may have helped him hide recurring bouts of depression. He admitted to friends and colleagues that he suffered from intense melancholia and hypochondria most of his adult life.

* On Feb. 10, 1846, Brigham Young leaves Nauvoo, Ill., and begins leading 1,600 Mormons west across the frozen Mississippi River to a temporary refuge at Sugar Grove, Iowa. It was their first stop in a westward migration that eventually brought them to the Great Salt Lake in Utah. By fall nearly 12,000 Mormons had made the trek.

* On Feb. 7, 1914, the silent film “Kid Auto Races at Venice” premieres in theaters, featuring actor Charlie Chaplin in his first screen appearance as the “Little Tramp.” Movies converted to sound in the late 1920s, but Chaplin held out until his film “Modern Times” (1936).

* On Feb. 13, 1945, a series of Allied firebombing raids begins against the German city of Dresden, reducing the town to rubble and killing as many as 135,000 people. It was the most destructive bombing of the war. Little, if anything, was accomplished strategically, since the Germans were about to surrender.

* On Feb. 9, 1964, the Beatles are introduced to America on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” singing “All My Lovin’,” “Til There Was You” and “She Loves You.” It is estimated that 73 million Americans watched the show.

* On Feb. 8, 1983, gunmen steal the champion Irish racehorse Shergar from a stud farm owned by the Aga Khan in County Kildare, Ireland. The 5-year-old thoroughbred stallion was worth $13.5 million. Despite a highly publicized search by authorities, Shergar was never seen again and no ransom was paid.

* On Feb. 11, 1990, in a major upset, Buster Douglas defeats Mike Tyson, the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, in 10 rounds at a boxing match in Tokyo. The loss to Douglas was the beginning of a long, downward spiral for Tyson, which included jail time and boxing license revocation in Nevada.

(c) 2011 King Features Synd., Inc.