October 10
is the 283rd day of the year (284th in
Leap years). There are 82 days remaining.
*
680 -
Battle of Karbala:
Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet
Muhammad, was
decapitated by forces under
Caliph Yazid I. This is commemorated by
Shi'a Muslims as
Aashurah.
*
732 -
Battle of Tours: Near
Poitiers,
France, leader of the
Franks,
Charles Martel and his men, defeat a large army of
Moors, stopping the
Muslims from spreading into
Western Europe. The governor of
Cordoba,
Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, is killed during the battle.
*
1471 -
Battle of Brunkeberg in
Stockholm:
Sten Sture the Elder, the
Regent of
Sweden, with help of
farmers and
miners, repels an attack by
Christian I,
King of Denmark.
*
1575 -
Battle of Dormans:
Catholic forces under Duke
Henry of Guise defeated the
Protestants, capturing
Philippe de Mornay among others.
*
1582 - Due to the implementation of the
Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in
Italy,
Poland,
Portugal and
Spain.
*
1631 - A
Saxon army takes over
Prague.
*
1780 - The
Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000-30,000 in the
Caribbean.
*
1845 - In
Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the
United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors.
*
1860 - The original cornerstone of the
University of the South was laid in
Sewanee,
Tennessee.
*
1868 -
Carlos Céspedes issued the
Grito de Yara from his
plantation, La Demajagua, proclaiming
Cuba's independence.
*
1877 - Lieutenant-Colonel
George Armstrong Custer is given a funeral with full military honors.
*
1908 -
Baseball Writers Association forms.
*
1910 -
Tau Epsilon Phi Fraternity is established at
Columbia University.
*
1911 -
Wuchang Uprising which led to the demise of
Qing Dynasty, the last Imperial court in
China, and the founding of the
Republic of China.
*
1911 - The commenced service between
Kowloon and
Canton.
*
1913 -
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggered the explosion of the
Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the
Panama Canal.
*
1920 - The
Carinthian Plebiscite determined that the larger part of
Carinthia became part of
Austria.
*
1933 - A
United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by
sabotage while en route from
Cleveland, Ohio to
Chicago, Illinois, the first such proven case in the history of
commercial aviation.
*
1935 - A tornado destroyed the 160 metre tall wooden
radio tower in
Langenberg. As a result of this catastrophe, few wooden towers were constructed after this date.
*
1938 - The
Blue Water Bridge opens, connecting
Port Huron, Michigan and
Sarnia, Ontario* 1938 -
World War II: The
Munich Agreement cedes the
Sudetenland to
Germany.
*
1944 -
Holocaust: 800
Gypsy children are systematically murdered at
Auschwitz death camp.
*
1954 - The
Communist Party of Honduras is founded.
*
1957 - U.S. President
Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the
finance minister of
Ghana,
Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he was refused service in a
Dover, Delaware restaurant.
*
1963 -
France cedes control of the
Bizerte naval base to
Tunisia.
*
1964 - The
1964 Summer Olympics open in
Tokyo,
Japan *
1966 -
Simon and Garfunkel release the album
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.
*
1967 - The
Outer Space Treaty, signed on
January 27 by more than sixty nations, enters into force.
*
1970 -
Fiji becomes independent.
* 1970 - In
Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits
Canada when
Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour
Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the
FLQ terrorist group.
*
1971 - Sold, dismantled and moved to the
United States, the
London Bridge reopens in
Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
*
1973 -
Vice President of the United States Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with federal
income tax evasion.
*
1978 - US President
Jimmy Carter signs a bill into law that authorizes the minting of the
Susan B. Anthony dollar.
*
1979 - The
Pac-Man arcade game is released to the
Japanese market by
Namco.
*
1985 -
United States Navy F-14 fighter jets intercept an
Egyptian plane carrying the
Achille Lauro cruise ship
hijackers and force it to land at a
NATO base in
Sigonella,
Sicily where they are arrested.
*
1986 - An
earthquake measuring 7.5 on the
Richter Scale strikes
San Salvador,
El Salvador, killing an estimated 1,500 people.
*
1987 -
Fiji becomes a
republic.
*
1995 - South African President
Nelson Mandela attends Genadendal.
*
1997 - The
NHL's
Carolina Hurricanes win their first-ever regular season game by defeating the
New Jersey Devils 2-1 in
Greensboro, North Carolina.
*
1997 - An Austral Airlines
DC-9-32 crashes and explodes near Nuevo Berlin,
Uruguay, killing 74.
*
2005 -
Angela Merkel is announced to be the new
chancellor of Germany.
*
1678 -
John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, Scottish soldier (d.
1743)
*
1684 -
Antoine Watteau, French painter (d.
1721)
*
1700 -
Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, French sculptor (d.
1759)
*
1731 -
Henry Cavendish, British scientist (d.
1810)
*
1780 -
John Abercrombie, Scottish physician (d.
1844)
*
1813 -
Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer (d.
1901)
*
1819 -
Heinrich Joseph Dominicus Denzinger, German theologian (d.
1883)
*
1825 -
Paul Kruger, President of the Transvaal Republic (d.
1904)
*
1830 - Queen
Isabella II of Spain (d.
1904)
*
1834 -
Aleksis Kivi, Finnish author (d.
1872)
*
1837 -
Robert Gould Shaw, American Army officer (d.
1863)
*
1861 -
Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian explorer,
Nobel laureate (d.
1930)
*
1870 -
Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin, Russian writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1953)
*
1885 -
Walter Anderson, German folklorist (d.
1962)
*
1895 -
Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Deva Gosvami Maharaja, Indian religious Guru (d.
1988)
*1895 -
Wolfram von Richthofen, German field marshal d.
1945)
*
1898 -
Lilly Daché, French-born milliner (d.
1989)
*
1900 -
Helen Hayes, American actress (d.
1993)
*
1901 -
Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor (d.
1966)
*
1906 -
Paul Creston, American composer (d.
1985)
* 1906 -
R.K. Narayan, Indian novelist (d.
2001)
*
1913 -
Claude Simon, French writer,
Nobel laureate (d.
2005)
*
1914 -
Tommy Fine, American baseball player (d.
2005)
*
1917 -
Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist (d.
1982)
*
1923 -
Nicholas Parsons, English actor
*
1924 -
James Clavell, Australian author (d.
1994)
* 1924 -
Ed Wood, American filmmaker (d.
1978)
*
1926 -
Richard Jaeckel, American actor (d.
1997)
*
1930 -
Yves Chauvin, French chemist,
Nobel laureate* 1930 -
Harold Pinter, English playwright,
Nobel laureate*
1932 -
Harry Smith, English footballer
*
1933 -
Jay Sebring, American hair stylist (d.
1969)
*
1938 -
Moriyama Daido, Japanese photographer
*
1942 -
Peter Coyote, American actor
*
1946 -
Charles Dance, English actor
* 1946 -
Naoto Kan, Japanese politician
* 1946 -
John Prine, American singer
* 1946 -
Chris Tarrant, British television host
* 1946 -
Ben Vereen, American actor
*
1947 -
Martin Ruane, professional wrestler (d.
1998)
*
1948 -
Séverine, French singer
*
1951 -
Ratu Epeli Ganilau, Fiji statesman
*
1953 -
Midge Ure, Scottish musician
* 1953 -
Gus Williams, American basketball player
*
1954 -
David Lee Roth, American singer
*
1956 -
Amanda Burton, Northern Irish actress
*
1957 -
Rumiko Takahashi, Japanese artist
*
1958 -
Tanya Tucker, American singer
*
1959 -
Bradley Whitford, American actor
*
1959 -
Kirsty MacColl, British singer (d.
2000)
*
1960 -
Eric Martin, American singer
*
1961 -
Jodi Benson, American voice actress
*
1963 -
Anita Mui, Hong Kong singer (d.
2003)
* 1963 -
Daniel Pearl, American journalist (d.
2002)
* 1963 -
Rebecca Pidgeon, American actress
* 1963 -
Jolanda de Rover, Dutch swimmer
* 1963 -
Vegard Ulvang, Norwegian cross-country skier
*
1965 -
Chris Penn,
American actor (d.
2006)
* 1965 -
Toshi, Japanese singer (
X Japan)
*
1966 -
Tony Adams, English footballer
*
1968 -
Bart Brentjens, Dutch mountain biker
*
1969 -
Brett Favre, American football player
*
1970 -
Dean Kiely, Irish footballer
* 1970 -
Corinna May, German singer
* 1970 -
Sir Matthew Pinsent, English rower
* 1970 -
Maja Tatic, Serbian singer
*
1971 -
Ian Bennett, English footballer
*
1971 -
Evgeny Kissin, Russian pianist
*
1972 -
Alexei Zhitnik, Russian ice hockey player
*
1973 -
Mario López, American actor
*
1974 -
Dale Earnhardt Jr., American race car driver
* 1974 -
Julio Ricardo Cruz, Argentinian footballer
*
1976 -
Bob Burnquist, Brazilian-born skateboarder
* 1976 -
Pat Burrell, American baseball player
*
1978 -
Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, American actress
*
1979 -
Mya, American singer
* 1979 -
Nicolás Massú, Chilean tennis player
*
1980 -
Tim Maurer, American singer (
Suburban Legends)
* 1980 -
Elvis Hammond, Ghanaian footballer
*
1983 -
Vusimuzi Sibanda, Zimbabwean cricketer
*
1982 -
Amon Buchanan, Australian footballer
*
1984 -
Stephanie Cheng, Hong Kong singer
* 1984 -
Chiaki Kuriyama, Japanese actress
*
1985 -
Layke Anderson, British actor
*
19 -
Germanicus, Roman general (b.
15 BC)
*
732 -
Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, Moorish Governor of Andalusia
*
833 -
al-Ma'mun, Abbasid caliph of Baghdad (b.
786)
*
1359 - King
Hugh IV of Cyprus*
1459 -
Gianfrancesco Poggio Bracciolini, Italian humanist and classicist (b.
1380)
*
1531 -
Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss reformer (killed in battle) (b.
1484)
*
1659 -
Abel Tasman, Dutch explorer (b.
1603)
*
1674 -
Thomas Traherne, English poet
*
1691 -
Isaac de Benserade, French poet (b.
1613)
*
1708 -
David Gregory, Scottish astronomer (b.
1659)
*
1714 -
Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert, French economist (b.
1646)
*
1720 -
Antoine Coysevox, French sculptor (b.
1640)
*
1723 -
William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper,
Lord Chancellor of England*
1725 -
Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil, Governor-General of New France
*
1747 -
John Potter,
Archbishop of Canterbury*
1759 -
Granville Elliott, British military officer (b.
1713)
*
1765 -
Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b.
1688)
*
1795 -
Francesco Antonio Zaccaria, Italian theologian and historian (b.
1714)
*
1806 -
Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, German prince (b.
1772)
*
1827 -
Ugo Foscolo, Italian writer (b.
1778)
*
1837 -
Charles Fourier, French philosopher (b.
1772)
*
1872 -
William H. Seward,
United States Secretary of State (b.
1801)
*
1875 -
Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Russian novelist, poet and dramatist (b.
1817)
*
1876 -
Charles Joseph Sainte-Claire Deville, French geologist (b.
1814)
*
1893 -
Lip Pike, baseball player (b.
1845)
*
1901 -
Lorenzo Snow, president of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b.
1814)
*
1913 -
Katsura Taro, Prime minister of Japan (b.
1848)
*
1914 -
Charles I of Romania (b.
1839)
*
1927 -
Gustave Whitehead, German-born inventor (b.
1874)
*
1930 -
Adolf Engler, German botanist (b.
1844)
*
1939 -
Eleanor Rigby*
1940 -
Berton Churchill, Canadian actor (b.
1876)
*
1964 -
Eddie Cantor, American singer and vaudeville performer (b.
1892)
* 1964 -
Heinrich Neuhaus, Soviet pianist (b.
1888)
*
1970 -
Édouard Daladier, French politician (b.
1884)
*
1971 -
John Cawte Beaglehole, New Zealand historian (b.
1901)
*
1978 -
Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete (b.
1910)
*
1979 -
Christopher Evans, British psychologist and computer scientist (b.
1931)
* 1979 -
Paul Paray, French conductor (b.
1886)
*
1983 -
Ralph Richardson, English actor (b.
1902)
*
1985 -
Yul Brynner, Russian-born actor (b.
1915)
* 1985 -
Orson Welles, American director and actor (b.
1915)
*
1986 -
Gleb Wataghin, Ukrainian-Italian physicist (b.
1899)
*
1998 -
Clark Clifford,
United States Secretary of Defense (b.
1906)
*
2000 -
Sirimavo Bandaranaike,
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (b.
1916)
*
2002 -
Teresa Graves, American actress and singer (b.
1948)
*
2003 -
Eugene Istomin, American pianist (b.
1925)
*
2004 -
Ken Caminiti, baseball player (heart attack) (b.
1963)
* 2004 -
Christopher Reeve, American actor (b.
1952)
* 2004 -
Arthur H. Robinson, American cartographer (b.
1915)
*
2004 -
Maurice Shadbolt, New Zealand writer (b.
1932)
*
2005 -
Wayne Booth, American literary critic (b.
1921)
* 2005 -
Milton Obote,
President of Uganda (b.
1925)
*
RC Saints -
Saint Thomas of Villanueva? ; Saint
Paulinus of York (in England)
* Also see
October 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)*
Republic of China (on
Taiwan) -
National Day (
Double Tenth Day 雙十國慶)
*
Fiji -
Fiji Day (
National Day)
*
Japan - National Health-Sports Day
*
United States -
Bonza Bottler Day.
*
World Mental Health Day* Old
Michelmas - Celtic holiday
*
French Republican Calendar -
Tournesol (Sunflower) Day, nineteenth day in the
Month of Vendémiaire*
BBC: On This DayOctober 9 -
October 11 -
September 10 -
November 10 - more
historical anniversaries
