December 10
is the 344th day (345th in
leap years) of the year in the
Gregorian calendar. There are 21 days remaining.
*
1041 - Empress
Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the
Eastern Roman Empire as
Michael V.
*
1508 - The
League of Cambrai is formed by
Pope Julius II,
Louis XII of France,
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and
Ferdinand II of Aragon as an alliance against
Venice.
*
1520 -
Martin Luther burns his copy of the
papal bull Exsurge Domine outside
Wittenberg's Elster Gate.
*
1684 -
Isaac Newton's derivation of
Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper
De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the
Royal Society by
Edmund Halley.
*
1817 -
Mississippi becomes the 20th
U.S. state.
*
1836 - Emory College (now
Emory University) is chartered in
Oxford, Georgia.
*
1861 -
American Civil War:
Kentucky becomes the 13th state admitted to the
Confederacy.
*
1864 -
American Civil War:
Sherman's March to the Sea - Major General
William T. Sherman's
Union Army troops reach
Savannah, Georgia.
*
1868 - The first
traffic lights are installed outside the
Houses of Parliament in
London. Resembling
railway signals, they use
semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green
gas lamps.
*
1869 -
Wyoming grants women the right to vote.
*
1869 - The first American chapter of
Kappa Sigma is founded at the
University of Virginia.
*
1898 -
Spanish-American War: The
Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict.
*
1899 - The
Delta Sigma Phi fraternity is founded at the
City College of New York.
*
1901 - The first
Nobel Prizes are awarded.
*
1904 - The
Pi Kappa Phi fraternity is founded at the
College of Charleston in
Charleston, South Carolina.
*
1906 -
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt wins the
Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first American to win a
Nobel Prize of any kind.
*
1932 -
Thailand adopts a
Constitution and becomes a
constitutional monarchy.
*
1936 -
Abdication Crisis:
Edward VIII signs his
Instrument of Abdication.
*
1941 -
World War II: The
Royal Navy capital ships
HMS Prince of Wales and
HMS Repulse are sunk by
Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers.
* 1941 - World War II:
Battle of the Philippines -
Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General
Masaharu Homma land on the Philippine mainland.
*
1948 - The
UN General Assembly adopts the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
*
1949 -
Chinese Civil War: The
People's Liberation Army begins its siege of
Chengdu, the last
Kuomintang-held city in
mainland China, forcing
President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to
Taiwan.
*
1953 - Dr.
Albert Schweitzer is awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work.
*
1963 - The
United States Air Force's
X-20 Dyna-Soar spaceplane program is cancelled by
Robert McNamara.
*
1965 -
The Grateful Dead play their first concert, at
the Fillmore in
San Francisco.
*
1970 - Agricultural scientist
Norman Borlaug, "father of the
Green Revolution", is awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize.
*
1971 -
Jim Hart throws a football for a record 98 yards, the longest recorded throw.
*
1972 - Major League Baseball's American League votes to adopt the Designated Hitter for the following season. The first to appear in a game was Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees.
*
1975 - Activist
Andrei Sakharov is awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize, accepted by his wife,
Yelena Bonner.
*
1978 -
Arab-Israeli conflict:
Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and
President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize.
*
1981 - The
United Nations General Assembly approves
Pakistan proposal for establishing nuclear free-zone in
South Asia.
*
1983 -
Democracy was restored on
Argentina with the assumption of President
Raúl Alfonsín.
* 1983 -
Solidarity leader
Lech Wałęsa is awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize, accepted by his wife, Danuta.
*
1984 -
Apartheid: Cleric and activist
Desmond Tutu is awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize.
*
1986 -
The Holocaust:
Elie Wiesel is awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize.
* 1986 -
U.S. President
Ronald Reagan declares the date
Human Rights Day in the United States.
*
1989 -
Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj announced the establishment of Mongolia's democratic movement that peacefully changed the second oldest communist country into a democratic society.
*
1993 - First release of
Doom, one of the most popular shoot-em'up PC videogames
*
1996 -
Rwandan Genocide: Military Advisor to the
United Nations Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations
Maurice Baril recommends that the
UN multi-national forces in
Zaire stand down.
*
2002 - The
High Court of Australia hands down its judgement in the
internet defamation case of
Gutnick v Dow Jones.
*
2004 - A tombstone commemorating the 35th anniversary of the death of
Brazilian guerrilla Carlos Marighella is inaugurated in
Salvador, Bahia.
*
2005 -
Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crashes in
Nigeria.
*
1394 - King
James I of Scotland (d.
1437)
*
1452 -
Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer (d.
1531)
*
1588 -
Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (d.
1637)
*
1750 -
Tipu Sultan, ruler of the
Kingdom of Mysore (d.
1799)
*
1787 -
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, American educator (d.
1851)
*
1805 -
Josef Skoda, Bohemian physician (d.
1881)
*
1815 -
Ada Lovelace, British computer programmer (d.
1852)
*
1821 -
Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, Russian poet (d.
1877)
*
1822 -
César Franck, Belgian composer and organist (d.
1890)
*
1824 -
George MacDonald, British writer and preacher (d.
1905)
*
1830 -
Emily Dickinson, American poet (d.
1886)
*
1851 -
Melvil Dewey, American librarian (d.
1931)
*
1870 -
Pierre Louÿs, French author (d.
1925)
* 1870 -
Adolf Loos, Austrian architect (d.
1933)
*
1872 -
Don Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (d.
1956)
*
1882 -
Otto Neurath, Austrian philosopher (d.
1945)
*
1884 -
Zinaida Serebryakova, Russian-born painter (d.
1967)
*
1886 -
Marco Minghetti, Italian statesman (b.
1813)
*
1891 -
Nelly Sachs, German-born writer and
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1970)
*
1903 -
Una Merkel, American actress (d.
1986)
*
1907 -
Rumer Godden (Margaret Rumer Godden), British writer (d.
1998)
* 1907 -
Lucien Laurent,
French international footballer (d.
2005)
*
1908 -
Olivier Messiaen, French composer and ornithologist (d.
1992)
*
1909 -
Hermes Pan, American choreographer and dancer (d.
1990)
*
1911 -
Chet Huntley, American journalist (d.
1974)
*
1912 -
Philip A. Hart, U.S. Senator (d.
1976)
*
1913 -
Morton Gould, American composer (d.
1996)
* 1913 -
Harry Locke, British character actor (d.
1987)
*
1914 -
Dorothy Lamour, American actress (d.
1996)
*
1917 -
Sultan Yahya Petra, King of Malaysia (d.
1979)
*
1920 -
Reginald Rose, American writer (d.
2002)
*
1928 -
Dan Blocker, American actor (d.
1972)
*
1934 -
Howard Martin Temin, American geneticist and
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1994)
*
1947 -
Douglas Kenney, American humorist (d.
1980)
* 1947 -
Rəsul Quliyev, Azerbaijani politician and chairman of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party.
* 1947 -
Rainer Seifert, German field hockey player
*
1948 -
Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (d.
2004)
*
1951 -
Ellen Nikolaysen, Norwegian singer
*
1952 -
Clive Anderson, British television host
* 1952 -
Susan Dey, American actress
*
1957 -
Michael Clarke Duncan, American actor
*
1960 -
Kenneth Branagh, Northern Irish actor and director
*
1967 -
Harland Williams, Canadian actor
*
1972 -
Brian Molko, Belgian-born singer and songwriter (
Placebo)
*
1974 -
Meg White, American drummer (
The White Stripes)
*
1975 -
Josip Skoko, Australian footballer
*
1978 -
Donna Williams, co-founder of
Neopets*
1980 -
Sarah Chang, American violinist
* 1980 -
Ledley King,
English international footballer
* 1980 -
Alexa Rae, American pornographic actress
*
1981 -
Taufik Batisah, Singaporean singer
* 1981 -
Fabio Rochemback, Brazilian footballer
*
1983 -
Patrick Flueger, American actor (
Law & Order: SVU,
The 4400)
*1983 -
Zé Kalanga, Angolan footballer
*
1985 -
Raven-Symoné, American actress and singer
*
1041 -
Michael IV,
Byzantine Emperor (b.
1010)
*
1198 -
Averroes, Arab physician and philosopher (b.
1126)
*
1508 -
René II, Duke of Lorraine (b.
1451)
*
1603 -
William Gilbert, English scientist (plague) (b.
1544)
*
1618 -
Giulio Caccini, Italian composer
*
1626 -
Edmund Gunter, English mathematician (b.
1581)
*
1665 -
Tarquinio Merula, Italian composer
*
1736 -
António Manoel de Vilhena, Portuguese ruler of Malta (b.
1663)
*
1831 -
Thomas Seebeck, Baltic German physicist (b.
1770)
*
1850 -
François Sulpice Beudant, French mineralogist and geologist (b.
1787)
*
1865 - King
Léopold I of Belgium (b.
1790)
*
1896 -
Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor and founder of the Nobel Prize (b.
1833)
*
1911 - Sir
Joseph Dalton Hooker, British botanist (b.
1817)
*
1917 - Sir
Mackenzie Bowell, fifth
Prime Minister of Canada (b.
1823)
*
1928 -
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, British architect, designer, and illustrator (b.
1868)
*
1936 -
Bobby Abel,
English test cricketer (b.
1857)
* 1936 -
Luigi Pirandello, Italian writer and
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1867)
*
1941 -
Colin Kelly, American pilot
*
1945 -
Theodor Dannecker, SS officer (b.
1913)
*
1946 -
Walter Johnson, American baseball player (b.
1887)
* 1946 -
Damon Runyon, American writer (b.
1884)
*
1951 -
Algernon Blackwood, British writer (b.
1869)
*
1953 -
Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Indian-born scholar and translator (b.
1872)
*
1967 -
Otis Redding, American soul singer (b.
1941)
*
1968 -
Thomas Merton, American monk and author (b.
1915)
* 1968 -
Karl Barth, Swiss theologian (b.
1886)
*
1969 -
Carlos Marighella, Brazilian politician
*
1978 -
Ed Wood, Jr., American filmmaker (b.
1924)
*
1979 -
Ann Dvorak, American film actress (b.
1912)
*
1982 -
Freeman F. Gosden, American actor (b.
1899)
*
1986 -
Susan Cabot, American actress (murdered) (b.
1927)
*
1987 -
Jascha Heifetz, Russian-born violinist (b.
1901)
*
1990 -
Armand Hammer, American industrialist and art collector (b.
1898)
*
1991 -
Greta Kempton, American artist (b.
1901)
*
1994 -
Alexander Wilson, Canadian and Notre Dame athlete (b.
1905)
*
1996 -
Faron Young, American singer (b.
1932)
*
1999 -
Franjo Tuđman,
President of Croatia (b.
1922)
* 1999 -
Rick Danko, Canadian bassist and singer (
The Band) (b.
1942)
*
2000 -
Marie Windsor, American film actress (b.
1919)
*
2001 -
Ashok Kumar, Indian actor (b.
1911)
*
2005 -
Eugene J. McCarthy,
United States Senator (b.
1916)
* 2005 -
Richard Pryor, American comedian and actor (b.
1940)
*
BBC: On This DayDecember 9 -
December 11 -
November 10 -
January 10 --
listing of all days
