10th May

Events

• 1291 - Scottish nobles recognize the authority of King Edward I of England.
• 1497 - Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cadiz for his first voyage to the New World.
• 1503 - Christopher Columbus discovers the Cayman Islands and he names them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles there.
• 1534 - Jacques Cartier discovers Newfoundland.
• 1768 - John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for the North Briton severely criticizing King George III. This action provokes rioting in London.
• 1774 - Louis XVI becomes King of France.
• 1775 - American Revolutionary War: Fort Ticonderoga is taken by a small force led by Colonel Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen.
• 1796 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France wins a decisive victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the River Adda in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men.
• 1837 - Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
• 1857 - Indian Mutiny: In India, the Sepoys revolt against the British Army.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia.
• 1869 - The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Point, Utah.
• 1872 - Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States.
• 1877 - Romania declares itself independent from Turkey, recognized on March 26, 1881 after the end of the Romanian independence war.
• 1908 - Mother's Day is observed for the first time (Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virgina).
• 1924 - J. Edgar Hoover is appointed head the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
• 1933 - Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings.
• 1940 - World War II: Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
• 1940 - World War II: Winston Churchill appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1941 - World War II: The United Kingdom's House of Commons is destroyed by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.
• 1941 - World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland claiming to be on a peace mission.
• 1954 - Bill Haley and the Comets release "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the charts.
• 1960 - The nuclear submarine USS Nautilus completes the first under water circumnavigation of the earth.
• 1979 - The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing.
• 1988 - Michel Rocard becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1994 - Illinois executes serial killer John Wayne Gacy for the murder of 33 young men and boys.
• 1997 - An earthquake near Ardekul in northeastern Iran kills at least 2,400.
• 2001 - In Ghana, a stampede at a soccer game kills over 120.
• 2002 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for selling American secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.

Births

• 1727 - Anne Robert Turgot, statesman († 1781)
• 1760 - Johann Peter Hebel, poet († 1826)
• 1838 - John Wilkes Booth, actor, assassin of Abraham Lincoln († 1865)
• 1841 - James Gordon Bennett Jr., publisher († 1918)
• 1878 - Gustav Stresemann, politician and recipient of the Nobel Prize in peace 1926 († 1929)
• 1888 - Max Steiner, composer († 1971)
• 1890 - Alfred Jodl, German general († 1946)
• 1899 - Fred Astaire, singer, dancer, actor († 1987)
• 1899 - Dimitri Tiomkin, composer († 1979)
• 1902 - David O. Selznick, Hollywood film producer († 1965)
• 1902 - Anatole Litvak, film director († 1974)
• 1909 - Mother Maybelle Carter, country musician
• 1916 - Milton Babbitt, composer
• 1930 - Pat Summerall, American football player, broadcaster
• 1933 - Barbara Taylor Bradford, writer
• 1944 - Jim Abrahams, director
• 1946 - Donovan Leitch, musician
• 1946 - Dave Mason, musician ("Traffic")
• 1955 - Mark David Chapman, assassin
• 1957 - Sid Vicious, bassist of The Sex Pistols († 1979)
• 1960 - Bono, singer of U2
• 1966 - Jonathan Edwards, British triple jumper
• 1973 - Dario Franchitti, automobile racer
• 1975 - Hélio Castroneves, Brazilian Indy Car driver, two-time Indianapolis 500 winner

Deaths

• 1717 - John Hathorn, magistrate
• 1818 - Paul Revere, engraver, American patriot
• 1863 - Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Confederate general
• 1955 - Tommy Burns, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion
• 1977 - Joan Crawford, actress
• 1985 - Chester Gould, cartoonist
• 1990 - Walker Percy, author
• 1994 - John Wayne Gacy, serial killer (executed)
• 1999 - Shel Silverstein, poet, composer

Holidays and Observances

• Confederate Memorial Day in North Carolina and South Carolina

May 9 - May 11 - April 10 - June 10 -- listing of all days

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