October 10
October 10 is the 283rd day of the year (284th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 82 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 19 AD – Roman general Germanicus suddenly dies in Antioch under mysterious circumstances. Roman historian Tactius records that Germanicus was poisoned by Syrian Governor Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso under orders from Roman Emperor Tiberius.
- 680 – Battle of Karbala: Hussain bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated by forces under Caliph Yazid I. This is commemorated by Muslims as Aashurah.
- 732 – Battle of Tours: Near Poitiers, France, the 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 the help of farmers and miners, repels an attack by Christian I, King of Denmark.
- 1575 – Battle of Dormans: Roman Catholic forces under Duke Henry of Guise defeat the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others.
- 1580 – After a three-day siege, the English Army beheads over 600 Irish and Papal soldiers and civilians at Dún an Óir, Ireland.
- 1582 – Because of 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 midshipman students and seven professors.
- 1860 – The original cornerstone of the University of the South is laid in Sewanee, Tennessee.
- 1868 – Carlos Céspedes issues the Grito de Yara from his plantation, La Demajagua, proclaiming Cuba's independence
- 1911 – The Wuchang Uprising leads to the demise of Qing Dynasty, the last Imperial court in China, and the founding of the Republic of China.
- 1911 – The Kowloon-Canton Railway (split into MTR East Rail Line and Guangshen Railway now) commences service between Kowloon and Canton.
- 1913 – President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the Panama Canal.
- 1920 – The Carinthian Plebiscite determines that the larger part of Carinthia should remain part of Austria.
- 1928 – Chiang Kai-Shek becomes Chairman of the Republic of China.
- 1933 – United Airlines Chesterton Crash: A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by sabotage, the first such proven case in the history of commercial aviation.
- 1935 – A coup d'état by the royalist leadership of the Greek Armed Forces takes place in Athens. It overthrows the government of Panagis Tsaldaris and establishes a regency under Georgios Kondylis, effectively ending the Second Hellenic Republic.
- 1938 – The Munich Agreement cedes the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany.
- 1942 – The Soviet Union establishes diplomatic relations with Australia.
- 1943 – Double Tenth Incident in Japanese controlled Singapore
- 1944 – Holocaust: 800 Gypsy children are murdered at Auschwitz concentration camp.
- 1945 – The Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang signed a principle agreement in Chongqing about the future of post-war China. Later, the pact is commonly referred to as the Double-Ten Agreement.
- 1957 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he is refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.
- 1957 – The Windscale fire in Cumbria, U.K. is the world's first major nuclear accident.
- 1963 – France cedes control of the Bizerte naval base to Tunisia.
- 1964 – The opening ceremony at The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, is broadcast live in the first Olympic telecast relayed by geostationary communication satellite.
- 1967 – The Outer Space Treaty, signed on January 27 by more than sixty nations, comes 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, London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
- 1972 – The 1972 Chicago commuter rail crash, killing 48, occurs due to foggy conditions. The accident's response pushes for changes in Chicago commuter rail, such as brightly colored ends on the cars.
- 1973 – Vice President of the United States Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with federal income tax evasion.
- 1975 – Papua New Guinea joins the United Nations.
- 1980 – A magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurs in the Algerian town of El Asnam. 3.500 die and 300,000 are left homeless.
- 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.
- 1997 – An Austral Airlines DC-9-32 crashes and explodes near Nuevo Berlin, Uruguay, killing 74.
- 1998 – A Lignes Aériennes Congolaises Boeing 727 is shot down by rebels in Kindu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 41 people.
- 2006 – The Greek city of Volos floods in one of the prefecture's worst recorded floods.
- 2008 – The 10 October 2008 Orakzai bombing kills 110 and injures 200 more.
- 2009 – Armenia and Turkey sign protocols in Zurich, Switzerland to open their borders.
- 2010 – The Netherlands Antilles are dissolved as a country.
Births
- 1344 – Mary Plantagenet, English princess (d. 1362)
- 1567 – Infanta Caterina Micaela of Spain (d. 1597)
- 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)
- 1794 – William Whiting Boardman, American politician (d. 1871)
- 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)
- 1828 – Samuel J. Randall, 33rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1890)
- 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)
- 1863 – Louis Cyr, French Canadian strongman (d. 1912)
- 1863 – Helen Dunbar, American actress (d. 1933)
- 1864 – T. Frank Appleby, United States Congressman from New Jersey (d. 1924)
- 1870 – Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin, Russian writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1953)
- 1870 – Louise Mack, Australian writer (d. 1935)
- 1884 – Ida Wüst, German actress (d. 1958)
- 1885 – Walter Anderson, German folklorist (d. 1962)
- 1889 – Han van Meegeren, Dutch painter, portraitist and art forger (d. 1947)
- 1895 – Fridolf Rhudin Swedish actor and comedian (d. 1935)
- 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)
- 1903 – Vernon Duke, American composer and songwriter (d. 1969)
- 1903 – Prince Charles of Belgium, Prince Regent of Belgium (d. 1983)
- 1903 – Bei Shizhang, Chinese biologist and educator (d. 2009)
- 1906 – Paul Creston, American composer (d. 1985)
- 1906 – R.K. Narayan, Indian novelist (d. 2001)
- 1908 – Johnny Green, American songwriter, arranger and conductor (d. 1989)
- 1908 – Mercè Rodoreda, Catalan novelist (d. 1983)
- 1909 – Robert F. Boyle, American production designer and art director (d. 2010)
- 1910 – Julius Shulman, American architectural photographer (d. 2009)
- 1911 – Clare Hollingworth, British journalist
- 1913 – Claude Simon, French writer, Nobel laureate (d. 2005)
- 1914 – Tommy Fine, American baseball player (d. 2005)
- 1914 – Ivory Joe Hunter, American R&B singer (d. 1974)
- 1915 – Sweets Edison, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1999)
- 1917 – Thelonious Monk, American jazz pianist (d. 1982)
- 1919 – Willard Estey, Canadian justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (d. 2002)
- 1923 – Nicholas Parsons, English actor
- 1923 – Murray Walker, British motorsport commentator
- 1923 – Louis Gottlieb, bassist and lofty comic spokesman for The Limeliters (d. 1996)
- 1924 – James Clavell, Australian author (d. 1994)
- 1924 – Ludmilla Tchérina, French ballet dancer and actress (d. 2004)
- 1924 – Edward D. Wood, Jr., American filmmaker (d. 1978)
- 1925 – The Great Antonio, Croatian-Canadian strongman (d. 2001)
- 1926 – Richard Jaeckel, American actor (d. 1997)
- 1926 – Oscar Brown Jr, American singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, civil rights activist, and actor (d. 2005)
- 1927 – Dana Elcar, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1927 – Thomas Wilson (composer), Scottish composer of classical music (d. 2001)
- 1928 – Sheila F. Walsh, English novelist (d. 2009)
- 1929 – Herb Levinson, American actor
- 1930 – Eugenio Castellotti, Italian race car driver (d. 1957)
- 1930 – Yves Chauvin, French chemist, Nobel laureate
- 1930 – Harold Pinter, English playwright, Nobel laureate (d. 2008)
- 1930 – Mustafa Zaidi, Pakistani poet (d. 1970)
- 1932 – Harry Smith, English footballer
- 1933 – Jay Sebring, American hair stylist and Manson murder victim (d. 1969)
- 1935 – André Bureau, French Canadian communications executive
- 1935 – Abu Jihad, Founder of the Palestinian group Fatah (d. 1988)
- 1936 – Gerhard Ertl, German surface chemist, Nobel laureate, 2007.
- 1938 – Moriyama Daido, Japanese photographer
- 1939 – Joseph Pitts, American politician
- 1940 – Winston Spencer-Churchill, British politician (d. 2010)
- 1941 – Peter Coyote, American actor
- 1942 – Radu Vasile, Romanian Prime Minister
- 1943 – Frederick Barthelme, American author
- 1946 – Charles Dance, English actor
- 1946 – Mildred Grieveson (aka: Anne Mather, Caroline Fleming, Cardine Fleming), English writer
- 1946 – Naoto Kan, Japanese politician
- 1946 – Peter Mahovlich, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1946 – John Prine, American singer
- 1946 – Chris Tarrant, English TV presenter
- 1946 – Ben Vereen, American actor
- 1946 – Martin Ruane, English professional wrestler (d. 1998)
- 1947 – Gary Beach, American actor
- 1948 – Séverine, French singer
- 1948 – Ed Volker, American musician
- 1949 – Ioannis Glavakis, Greek politician
- 1950 – Nora Roberts, American novelist
- 1951 – Epeli Ganilau, Fijian statesman
- 1953 – Midge Ure, Scottish musician
- 1953 – Gus Williams, American basketball player
- 1954 – Mohamed Mounir, Egyptian musician
- 1954 – Rekha, Bollywood actress
- 1954 – David Lee Roth, American singer (Van Halen)
- 1954 – Patric Zimmerman, American voice actor
- 1956 – Amanda Burton, Northern Irish actress
- 1956 – Mark Gordon, American film producer
- 1957 – Rumiko Takahashi, Japanese artist
- 1958 – Tanya Tucker, American singer
- 1959 – Kirsty MacColl, English singer (d. 2000)
- 1959 – Julia Sweeney, American actress, comedian, and author
- 1959 – Bradley Whitford, American actor
- 1960 – Ron Flockhart, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1960 – Eric Martin, American singer (Mr. Big)
- 1960 – Simon Townshend, British rock guitarist
- 1961 – Jodi Benson, American voice actress
- 1961 – Henrik Jørgensen, Danish marathon runner
- 1961 – Martin Kemp, British musician (Spandau Ballet) and actor
- 1963 – Anita Mui, Hong Kong singer (d. 2003)
- 1963 – Jolanda de Rover, Dutch swimmer
- 1963 – Vegard Ulvang, Norwegian cross-country skier.
- 1964 – Quinton Flynn, American voice actor
- 1964 – Sarah Lancashire, English actress
- 1964 – Daniel Pearl, American journalist (d. 2002)
- 1964 – Crystal Waters, U.S. singer
- 1965 – Chris Penn, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1965 – Rebecca Pidgeon, American actress
- 1965 – Toshi, Japanese singer (X Japan)
- 1966 – Tony Adams, English footballer
- 1966 – Bai Ling, Chinese American actress
- 1966 – Derrick McKey, American basketball player
- 1967 – Jonathan Littell, French-American writer
- 1967 – Mike Malinin, American drummer (Goo Goo Dolls)
- 1967 – Gavin Newsom, American politician
- 1968 – Bart Brentjens, Dutch mountain biker
- 1968 – Marinos Ouzounidis, Greek footballer and football manager
- 1968 – DJ Skribble, American DJ, producer, remixer, radio personality and actor
- 1969 – Francis Escudero, Filipino senator
- 1969 – Brett Favre, American football player
- 1969 – Shawn "Thunderbird" Jamison, American basketball coach and ex Harlem Globetrotter
- 1969 – Wendi McLendon-Covey, American actress
- 1969 – Dilsa Demirbag Sten, Swedish author and journalist
- 1970 – Dean Kiely, Irish footballer
- 1970 – Silke Kraushaar-Pielach, German luger
- 1970 – Corinna May, German singer
- 1970 – Mohammed Mourhit, Belgian athlete
- 1970 – Matthew Pinsent, English rower
- 1971 – Ian Bennett, English footballer
- 1971 – Evgeny Kissin, Russian pianist
- 1972 – Russell Hantz, American Survivor Contestant
- 1972 – Jun Lana, Filipino playwright and screenwriter
- 1972 – Dean Roland, American guitarist (Collective Soul)
- 1972 – Alexei Zhitnik, Russian ice hockey player
- 1973 – Mario López, American actor
- 1973 – Semmy Schilt, Dutch kickboxer
- 1973 – Zach Thornton, American soccer player
- 1974 – Assi Cohen, Israeli comedian and actor
- 1974 – Julio Ricardo Cruz, Argentinian footballer
- 1974 – Dale Earnhardt Jr, American racecar driver
- 1974 – Chris Pronger, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1975 – Ramón Morales, Mexican footballer
- 1975 – Plácido Polanco, Dominican baseball player
- 1975 – Ihsahn, Norwegian Musician (Emperor band)
- 1975 – Azlan McLennan, Australian artist
- 1976 – Bob Burnquist, Brazilian-born skateboarder
- 1976 – Pat Burrell, American baseball player
- 1976 – Shane Doan, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Scott Dobie, Scottish footballer
- 1978 – Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, American actress
- 1979 – Mya Harrison, American singer
- 1979 – Nicolás Massú, Chilean tennis player
- 1979 – Joel Przybilla, American basketball player
- 1979 – Wu Chun, Brunei born Taiwanese actor and singer
- 1979 – Ahn Chil Hyun (Kangta), lead singer of the former South Korean group H.O.T.
- 1980 – Blaž Emeršič, Slovenian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Casey FitzSimmons, American football player
- 1980 – Elvis Hammond, Ghanaian footballer
- 1980 – Tim Maurer, American singer (Suburban Legends)
- 1980 – Sherine, Egyptian singer
- 1981 – Una Healy, Irish singer (The Saturdays)
- 1981 – Michael Oliver, American actor
- 1981 – Francisco Javier Rodríguez, Mexican footballer
- 1982 – Yasser Al-Qahtani, Saudi footballer
- 1982 – Amon Buchanan, Australian rules footballer
- 1982 – Hideki Mutoh, Japanese racing driver
- 1983 – Vusimuzi Sibanda, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1983 – Nikos Spyropoulos, Greek footballer
- 1983 – Tolga Zengin, Turkish football player
- 1984 – Stephanie Cheng, Hong Kong singer
- 1984 – Chiaki Kuriyama, Japanese actress
- 1984 – Paul Posluszny, American football player
- 1984 – Troy Tulowitzki, American baseball player
- 1985 – Dominique Cornu, Belgian professional cyclist
- 1985 – Marina Diamandis, Welsh singer/songwriter
- 1986 – Nathan Jawai, Australian basketball player
- 1986 – Ezequiel Garay, Argentine footballer
- 1987 – Ryan Mathews, American football player
- 1987 – Colin Slade, New Zealand rugby player
- 1988 – Ideye Aide Brown, Nigerian footballer
- 1989 – Aimee Teegarden, American actress
- 1991 – Gabriella Cilmi, Australian singer
- 1991 – Mariana Espósito, Argentine actress, singer and model
- 1991 – Manuel Giandonato, Italian footballer
- 1991 – Xherdan Shaqiri, Swiss footballer
- 1993 – Jayden Stockley, English footballer
Deaths
- 19 – Germanicus, Roman general (b. 15 BC)
- 680 – Husayn ibn Ali, Shi'a Imam, Muhammad's grandson (b. 626)
- 732 – Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, Moorish Governor of Andalusia
- 1359 – King Hugh IV of Cyprus (b. 1295)
- 1459 – Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini, Italian humanist and classicist (b. 1380)
- 1659 – Abel Tasman, Dutch explorer (b. 1603)
- 1674 – Thomas Traherne, English poet
- 1691 – Isaac de Benserade, French poet (b. 1613)
- 1708 – David Gregory, Scottish mathematician (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 (b. 1665)
- 1725 – Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil, Governor-General of New France (b. 1643)
- 1747 – John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1674)
- 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)
- 1857 – George Washington Parke Custis, American orator and playwright (b. 1781)
- 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, American baseball player (b. 1845)
- 1901 – Lorenzo Snow, fifth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1814)
- 1911 – Jack Daniel, American Distiller and the founder of Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey distillery (b. 1846 or 1850)
- 1913 – Katsura Taro, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1848)
- 1913 – Adolphus Busch, American brewer (Anheuser-Busch) (b. 1839)
- 1914 – King Carol I of Romania (b. 1839)
- 1922 – Andreas Karkavitsas, Greek writer (b. 1866)
- 1927 – Gustave Whitehead, German-born inventor (b. 1874)
- 1930 – Adolf Engler, German botanist (b. 1844)
- 1940 – Berton Churchill, Canadian actor (b. 1876)
- 1948 – Ted Horn, American race car driver (b. 1910)
- 1953 – Erima Harvey Northcroft, New Zealand judge (b. 1884)
- 1957 – Karl Genzken, Nazi physician (b. 1885)
- 1962 – Stancho Belkovski, Bulgarian architect and lecturer (b. 1891)
- 1963 – Roy Cazaly, Australian rules footballer (b. 1893)
- 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)
- 1973 – Ludwig von Mises, Austrian economist (b.1881)
- 1976 – Silvana Armenulic, Yugoslavian folk singer (b. 1939)
- 1977 – Angelo Muscat, Maltese actor (b. 1930)
- 1978 – Ralph Marterie, American big band leader (b. 1914)
- 1978 – Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete (b. 1910)
- 1979 – Christopher Evans, British psychologist and computer scientist (b. 1931)
- 1979 – Paul Paray, French conductor (b. 1886)
- 1982 – Jean Effel, French painter and journalist (b. 1908)
- 1983 – Ralph Richardson, English actor (b. 1902)
- 1985 – Yul Brynner, Russian-born actor (b. 1920)
- 1985 – Orson Welles, American director and actor (b. 1915)
- 1986 – Gleb Wataghin, Ukrainian-Italian physicist (b. 1899)
- 1990 – Tom Murton, American penologist (b. 1928)
- 1990 – Nikolaos Pavlopoulos, Greek sculptor and writer (b. 1909)
- 1991 – Mickey Hirschl, Austrian wrestler (b. 1906)
- 1998 – Clark Clifford, United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1906)
- 1998 – Tommy Quaid, Irish hurler (b. 1957)
- 2000 – Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (b. 1916)
- 2001 – Eddie Futch, American boxing trainer (b. 1911)
- 2001 – Vasily Mishin, Soviet rocket designer (b. 1917)
- 2002 – Teresa Graves, American actress and singer (b. 1948)
- 2003 – Eugene Istomin, American pianist (b. 1925)
- 2004 – Ken Caminiti, American baseball player (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)
- 2006 – Michael John Rogers, English ornithologist (b. 1932)
- 2006 – Ian Scott, Canadian politician (b. 1934)
- 2007 – Mehmed Uzun, contemporary Kurdish writer and novelist (b. 1953)
- 2008 – Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese businessman (b. 1947)
- 2009 – Stephen Gately, Irish singer (Boyzone) (b. 1976)
- 2010 – Solomon Burke, American singer (b. 1940)
- 2010 – Joan Sutherland, Australian operatic soprano (b. 1926)
- 2011 – Jagjit Singh, Indian Musician, Ghazal Maestro, Padma Bhusan awardee (b. 1941)
Holidays and observances
External links