2010
2010 was the 139th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.
Events
- January 13: UAB Hospital's Critical Care Transport jet flew through Cuban airspace while ferrying a survivor of the Haitian earthquake to a Miami hospital.
- February 5: Chuck Faush's documentary "On Air: 1960s Black Radio in Birmingham" premiered at the Alabama Theatre.
- March 5: Former Jefferson County Commission president Larry Langford was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for bribery and corruption.
- April 5: The Rock Church (Forestdale) held its first service at its permanent home.
- April 7: Larry Langford reported to prison at Ashland, Kentucky.
- April 9 - May 22: Birmingham Biennial 3 at Bare Hands.
- April: Jason and Jenny Waltman founded the Grace Klein Community.
- May 27: Bill Blount and Al LaPierre reported to federal prison.
- June 2: 2010 primary elections
- June 30–July 3: Vulcan Bike Week
- July: Eytan Yammer became rabbi of Knesseth Israel Congregation.
- July 22: "Heads Up Alabama", an exhibit of twenty custom-painted oversize heads, went on display at the Birmingham Public Library.
- July 23: Sloss: Industry to Art premiered at Sloss Furnaces.
- July 24: 2010 primary runoffs
- August 9: Homewood City Council president Jeff Underwood resigned for health reasons.
- September 7: The band Wild Sweet Orange announced its break-up on Facebook.com
- September 13: Forever Wild acquired a 553-acre addition to the Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park.
- September 18: Downtown's Railroad Park opened to the public.
- September 23: The Birmingham Business Alliance unveiled their "Blueprint Birmingham" economic development plan at the Railroad Park.
- October 11: Scott Fitzgerald took over from the Steve & Leah Show on WERC-FM and WERC-AM.
- October 14: John W. Stewart III was inaugurated president of the University of Montevallo.
- November 3: 2010 general election
- December 5: Mount Lebanon Baptist Church held its first services at the former Avondale Presbyterian Church building.
- December 6: African elephant Bulwagi arrived at the Birmingham Zoo.
- December 14: Copper thieves burned down the Christmas tree at Linn Park.
- December 15: Cox Media Group replaced the Christmas tree at Linn Park.
- Alabama First renamed itself GASP.
Business
- January 1: Frost Cummings LLP and the Tidwell Group merged to create the Frost Cummings Tidwell Group.
- February 22: Citadel Communications shut down Live 100.5 and launched a news-talk WAPI-FM station in its place.
- March 11: Jesse Chambers succeeded Glenny Brock as editor of the Birmingham Weekly.
- March 27: Ona Watson closed the 20th Street South location of his Ona's Music Room in preparation for a move to Pepper Place.
- April 1: Grayson Hall succeeded Dowd Ritter as president and CEO of Regions Bank.
- April 16: Ground was broken for The Hollywood retail center at 400 Hollywood Boulevard.
- July 8: Sam George succeeded Jesse Chambers as editor of the Birmingham Weekly.
- September 1: Sojourns moved to the Eubanks Mercantile building.
- September: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama consolidated the offices of its Cahaba Government Benefit Administrators division into the Meadow Brook 500 building at Meadow Brook Corporate Park.
- September: Beth Shelburne became a news anchor at WBRC 6.
- December 1: George Perdue became president of the South Region Minority Suppliers Development Council.
- December 23: Atherotech was acquired by Behrman Capital.
- Adams Produce was sold to CIC Partners LP of Dallas, Texas.
- Aliant Bank was acquired by USAmeriBank of Clearwater, Florida.
- EWTN formed a joint news service with the Catholic News Agency.
- Steve Hewett was hired as a senior vice president with The Sanders Trust.
- Bud Moore and his children, Mike and Kim, purchased Dixie Nissan and renamed it Moore Nissan.
- Subway Restaurant moved its 20th Street North store into the former Fifth Avenue Coffee House space around the corner.
- Chris Giattina founded BLOX.
- Eric Pfieffer bought Tidmore Flag and Banner.
- Scholar Craft acquired the plastic furniture business from the CDF Corporation of Worcester, Massachusetts.
Establishments
- March: Lovelady Thrift Store opened.
- March: Stone's Throw Bar & Grill opened at Mt Laurel.
- April: ActionSportsArt was founded.
- April: O. T.'s on Acton opened.
- June: Urban Cookhouse opened on 18th Street South Homewood.
- June 21: D1 Training opened at 1651 Independence Court.
- July 1: Mamanoes Grocery Shop opened on 2nd Avenue North.
- July 5: Brick & Tin restaurant opened on Birmingham Green.
- July 10: Paul Roberts opened Southeast Urgent Care at Walker Chapel Plaza in Fultondale.
- July 22: Bayou Deli opened on Birmingham Green.
- September: Individuality Gallery opened in Mountain Brook Village.
- November 15: Pianeta 3 opened at the Mountain Brook Shopping Center.
- November 23: Busy Bee Burger opened in Chelsea.
- November: Woody Wiginton founded FinerGrind Coffee Roasters in Warrior.
- November: Grabow Outdoors opened in Fultondale.
- The Step Pepper Records label was launched.
- Millie Ray's was formally launched as a business.
- Michael Heaven founded Proteomic Profiling Technologies.
- Hanson Watkins founded Indie Candy.
- Nelson Hannah founded Eagle's Wing Church.
Disestablishments
- February 28: The Ruby Tuesday's at Five Points South closed.
- Standard Bistro at Mt Laurel closed.
- March: The Western Tribune weekly folded.
- July 16: Floyd & Beasley Transfer closed.
- August: Lucy's on Thirty-One closed.
- December 30: Bare Hands gallery closed.
- December 31: Pepper Place General Store closed.
- December: MedTown Pharmacy on 20th Street North closed
- Bogart's Motorsports in Irondale closed.
- Changes Salon Spa & Wellness Center in Norwood closed.
Sports
- January 2: The Connecticut Huskies defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks 20-7 in the PapaJohns.com Bowl at Legion Field.
- January 7: The Alabama Crimson Tide football team defeated the Texas Longhorns to take the BCS National Championship in Pasadena, California.
- February 23: The UAB Softball Field hosted its first game with UAB losing to Alabama 7-3.
- March 21: The inaugural Bobby Bowden Collegiate Coach of the Year Award was awarded to Nick Saban.
- April 9-11: Helio Castroneves won the inaugural Grand Prix of Alabama at the Barber Motorsports Park
- June 12-13: 2010 Xterra Southeast Championship at Oak Mountain State Park.
- October 30: Alabama State defeated Alabama A&M 31-10 in the Magic City Classic at Legion Field.
- November 4: Birmingham reached a tentative agreement with the Birmingham Barons to move the team to a new downtown baseball park.
- November 4: BBVA Compass announced it would be the title sponsor of the Birmingham Bowl.
- November 26: Auburn won the 2010 Iron Bowl 28-27 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
- November 30: Samford Bulldogs athletic director Bob Roller resigned.
Individuals
- June 30: Wallace Lockett was elected the 57th Bishop of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
- September 26: MountainTop Community Church founder Bill Elder returned to the pulpit, 9 months after suffering a stroke.
- October 31: Al Sutton resigned the pastorate at Sixth Avenue Baptist Church.
- November 1: Ken Gulley succeeded Ed May as Mayor of Bessemer.
- November 4: Edward Partridge was elected President of the American Cancer Society.
- November 9: Phyllis Wyne was elected president of the Birmingham Board of Education.
- Jimmy DeButts left the Birmingham Business Journal to become an associate editor of the Baltimore Business Journal.
- Mike Froning retired as Dean of the UAB School of Education.
- William Noble resigned from the Jefferson County Circuit Court.
- Scott Roebuck succeeded Annetta Verin as presiding judge in the Bessemer Municipal Court.
Births
- February 14: Lutsandvo, an African elephant, was born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
- Sorrel, a red panda, was born at the Binder Park Zoo near Battle Creek, Michigan.
Awards
- Alabama Lawyers' Hall of Fame: Edgar Albritton, Henry Hitchcock, James Horton, Lawrence Redden, Harry Seale
- Miss Alabama: Ashley Davis
- Miss Shelby County: Megan Picklesimer
Graduations
Marriages
- Jason Simpson to the former Lacey Cortez.
Retirments
- March 1: Allen Farley retired as Assistant Sheriff of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
Deaths
- January 1: Gregory Slay, Remy Zero drummer
- January 3: Walter Braswell, attorney
- January 3: Charles Kleibacker, fashion designer
- January 5: Jessie Hale Downs, co-founder of the Jimmie Hale Mission
- January 5: Orlandera Johnson, retired Homewood Police Department officer
- January 5: Joe Shannon, aviator
- January 12: U.S. Air Force officer Ken Bourland died in Haiti.
- January 13: Fred Lamar, Methodist minister and missionary
- January 15: Charles Crowder, retired Circuit Court judge
- January 15: Constance Shen Pittman, former UAB endocrinologist
- January 21: Bobby Bragan, baseball player, manager and executive
- January 26: Paul R. Jones, art collector
- February 4: Alexander Lacy, attorney and civic leader
- February 5: Buddy Glasgow, former Shelby County Sheriff
- February 5: Diane Rivers, educational consultant
- February 10: Asa Rountree III, attorney and author
- February 18: "Scotty D" Daniels, radio personality
- February 23: Hannah Stewart, sculptor
- February 28: Charles Speir, co-founder of Brookwood Medical Center
- March 1: Barry Hannah, author
- March 2: Ernest Palmore, retired educator
- March 6: Evan Zeiger Jr, neurosurgeon
- March 7: Joe Erben, bar owner
- March 8: Melford Espey, University of Alabama administrator and the first Big Al
- March 10: Willie Logan, artist
- March 14: Jessi, police dog
- March 15: Major Bashinsky, attorney and financial planner
- March 15: Elaine Hamilton, abstract painter
- March 28: William Spencer III, businessman
- March 28: Thompson Reynolds, football coach
- March 31: Bob McGregor, prosecutor
- April 1: Edward J. Wilson, Episcopal priest
- April 2: Douglas E. Jones, geologist, paleontologist and University of Alabama administrator
- April 10: Norman Albright, attorney and business college founder
- April 22: Arthur Winograd, former conductor of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
- April 23: Toni Tully, fabric artist
- April 26: Barbara Maxwell, nurse
- April 28: Cordell Wynn, former Stillman College president
- May 18: Donnetta Brown, principal of Wilson Elementary School
- May 24: Joe Farley, former Alabama Power Company president
- June 8: Mae Rosenberger, former CEO of Rosenberger's Birmingham Trunk
- June 13: Anthony Mostella, football player
- June 13: Suzanne Bashinsky-Ash
- June 14: Elmer Moree, educator and basketball coach
- June 18: Charles Ensley, union president
- June 27: Bill L. Harbert, construction executive
- July 1: Worcy Crawford, bus company founder
- July 2: Maurice Thomas, Alabama A&M University defensive back
- July 7: Mara, giraffe
- July 11: Moti, white tiger
- August 22: Cecil Whitmire, preservationist
- August 24: Kathryn Lacey, educator
- September 4: Juan Navia, nutritionist and dean of the UAB School of Public Health
- September 7: Glenn Shadix, actor
- September 7: Cleveland Hammonds, former Birmingham City Schools superintendent
- September 15: Irvin Penfield, former Birmingham-Southern College provost
- September 16: Pat Courington Sr, founder of the Sand Mountain Reporter
- September 17: Ted Tibbs, organist and Samford University professor
- September 18: Herbert Longenecker, biochemist and former Tulane University president
- September 23: Robert Slaughter, gastroenterologist and Brigadier General in the U.S. Army Reserve.
- October 7: Dale Benos, UAB physiologist
- October 7: Abe Gustin, founder of Applebee's International
- October 7: Nina Ireland, artist and philanthropist
- October 8: James Foy, former Auburn University dean of students
- October 8: Mel Powers, Houston businessman and former murder defendant
- October 12: Tommy Wrenn, Civil Rights activist
- October 12: Woody Peoples, NFL offensive lineman
- October 13: John Friedel, photographer and educator
- October 14: Matt Kimbrell, musician and songwriter
- October 27: Hall Thompson, founder of Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club
- November 9: Kathy Kemp, newspaper columnist
- November 14: Don Morrison, architect
- November 16: Aubrey Edwards, music minister
- November 21: Willis Burks, actor
- November 22: Elbert Jemison, golfer and insurance executive
- November 24: Louis LeVaughn, former elementary school principal
- November 26: Marvin Whiting, archivist and historian
- December 3: Al Rosenbaum, retailer
- December 3: Marvin Bass, Birmingham Vulcans head coach
- December 17: Walt Dropo, 1948 Birmingham Barons star
- December 20: Bill Yearby, NFL linebacker
- December 21: James Head, businessman and civic leader
- December 30: Elizabeth Garner, science teacher
- Venoa Daniels
- Victoria, a wombat at the Birmingham Zoo
Works
- North Birmingham EcoScape
- "Argyle", sculpture by Craig Witherspoon
- Center Point Veterans Memorial
- Lifted, feature film produced by Hunter Films
- "Dream, Child. Hope", orchestral work by Adolphus Hailstork, commissioned by the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.
- "Sloss: Industry to Art" documentary film by Chris Holmes/Alabama Public Television
- April 11: The Anne Frank tree at Kelly Ingram Park was dedicated.
Books
- An Anguished Hallelujah by Linda Flaherty
- Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham
- Rickwood Field: A Century in America's Oldest Ballpark by Allen Barra
- The Architectural Legacy of Wallace A. Rayfield by Allen Durough
- Iron and Steel: A Guide to the Birmingham Area Industrial Heritage by Jim Bennett
- Landscape of Transformations: Architecture and Birmingham, Alabama by Michael Fazio
- I'm Black When I'm Singing, I'm Blue When I Ain't and Other Plays by Sonia Sanchez, edited by Jacqueline Wood
- Extraordinary, Ordinary People by Condoleezza Rice
- I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg
- Archibald Zwick and the Eight Towers by Robert Leslie Palmer
- The Fairytale Trilogy by Valerie Gribben
Buildings
- 1651 Independence Court
- Apple Valley Recreation Center
- Bessemer City High School
- Cityville Block 121
- CSX Central Alabama Intermodal Facility
- Cottages of Lakeshore
- Gardendale First Baptist Church
- Green Solar Manufacturing
- The Hollywood
- Majestic Cross
- Marriott Renaissance Hotel Birmingham
- Phelan Flats
- Pleasant Grove High School
- Sipsey Valley Middle School
- UAB Women and Infants Center / Hazelrig-Salter Radiation Oncology Center / Limbaugh Family Park of Hope
- Vestavia Hills Public Library
- T. R. Wright Elementary School
- Interior renovations, East Lake Library
Demolitions
- Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum
- Jaycees Haunted House
- Leeds National Guard Armory
- Mountain Brook City Hall (1967)
- Rogers Area Vocational Center
See Also
- 2010 Birmingham Barons
- 2010 Iron Bowl
- 2010 SEC Baseball Tournament
- 2010 Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival
- 2010 UAB Blazers football
Context
In 2010, the tallest man-made structure to date, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was officially opened. A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, killing over 230,000. Apple released the iPad. The 2010 Winter Olympics were held in and around Vancouver, Canada. Volcanic ash from Iceland disrupted air traffic across northern and western Europe. The Horizon oil spill, one of the largest in history, occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. Thirty-three miners in Chile were returned to the surface after surviving underground for a record 69 days. Wikileaks released a collection of more than 250,000 American diplomatic cables.
The top-grossing films in 2010 included Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland, Iron Man 2, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. The Academy Award for Best Picture went to The King's Speech, as did Best Directory (Tom Hooper), and Best Actor (Colin Firth). Best Actress went to Natalie Portman (Black Swan).
Top pop music hits in 2010 included "Tik Tok" by Kesha, "Rude Boy" by Rihanna, "California Gurls" by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg, "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem featuring Rihanna, and "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars. The Grammy Award for Record of the Year went to "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum, Album of the Year to The Suburbs by Arcade Fire, Song of the Year to "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum, and Best New Artist to Esperanza Spalding.
Notable deaths in 2011 included author J. D. Salinger, actor Peter Graves, artist Frank Frazetta, actress Patricia Neal, politician Ted Stevens, entertainer Eddie Fisher, actor Tony Curtis, television producer Stephen J. Cannell, actor Leslie Nielsen, director Blake Edwards, and singer Teena Marie.
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