1. On January 10, 1861, Mississippi became the second state to secede from the United States, following South Carolina. This decision was prompted by the state's strong support for slavery and its belief in states' rights.

2. In 1901, Mississippi Governor Andrew Longino signed a law that prohibited interracial marriages in the state. This law remained on the books until 1967, when the Supreme Court federally legalized interracial marriage in Loving v. Virginia.

3. Civil Rights activist and field secretary of the NAACP, Medgar Evers, was born in Decatur, Mississippi on January 10, 1925. Evers worked to end segregation and discrimination in the state, and was assassinated in front of his home in Jackson in 1963.

4. On January 10, 1978, two explosions at a chemical plant in Natchez, Mississippi killed 9 people and injured over 50. The explosions were caused by an overpressure buildup of ethylene dichloride gas.

5. In 2012, former Governor of Mississippi, William Winter, celebrated his 90th birthday on January 10th. Winter served as governor from 1980-1984 and was a key advocate for education reform in the state.