10 May

23       A sunspot is observed by Han Dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, one of the earliest dated sunspot observations in China.

70       Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of Emperor Vespasian, opens a full-scale assault on Jerusalem and attacks the city’s Third Wall to the northwest.

1002   Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (born), Iraqi historian and scholar (died 1071)

1482   Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli (died), Italian mathematician and astronomer (born 1397)

1497   Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World.

1503   Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous turtles there.

1534   Jacques Cartier visits Newfoundland.

1566   Leonhart Fuchs (died), German physician and botanist (born 1501)

1692   Sarah Osborne (died), American woman accused of witchcraft (born 1643)

1768   John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for The North Briton severely criticizing King George III. This action provokes rioting in London.

1773    The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.

1774    Louis XV of France (died) (born 1710)

1774    Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette become King and Queen of France.

1775    American Revolutionary War: A small Colonial militia led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold captures Fort Ticonderoga.

1775    American Revolutionary War: Representatives from the Thirteen Colonies begin the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

1787   William Watson (died), English physician and scientist (born 1715)

1798   George Vancouver (died), English navy officer and explorer (born 1757)

1801   First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America.

1818   Paul Revere (died), American soldier (born 1735)

1824   The National Gallery in London opens to the public.

1829   Thomas Young (died), English physician and linguist (born 1773)

1837   Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.

1838   John Wilkes Booth (born), American actor, assassin of Abraham Lincoln (died 1865)

1841   James Gordon Bennett, Jr. (born), American publisher (died 1918)

1849   Astor Place Riot: A riot breaks out at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New York City over a dispute between actors Edwin Forrest and William Charles Macready, killing at least 25 and injuring over 120.

1857   Indian Mutiny: In India, the first war of Independence begins. Sepoys revolt against their commanding officers at Meerut.

1863   Stonewall Jackson (died), American general (born 1824)

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 Summit, Utah (not Promontory Point, Utah) with the golden spike.

1872   Marcel Mauss (born), French sociologist (died 1950)

1872   Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States.

1893   The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883.

1894   Dimitri Tiomkin (born), Ukrainian-American composer and conductor (died 1979)

1894   Elvira Popescu (born), Romanian-French actress and director (died 1993)

1899   Fred Astaire (born), American actor, singer, and dancer (died 1987)

1902   David O. Selznick (born), American director and producer (died 1965)

1908   Mother’s Day is observed for the first time in the United States, in Grafton, West Virginia.

1909   Maybelle Carter (born), American autoharp player (Carter Family and The Carter Sisters) (died 1978)

1916    Sailing in the lifeboat James Caird, Ernest Shackleton arrives at South Georgia after a journey of 800 nautical miles from Elephant Island.

1918   T. Berry Brazelton (born), American pediatrician and author

1924   J. Edgar Hoover is appointed the Director of the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation, and remains so until his death in 1972.

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 is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1941    Danny Rapp (born), American singer (Danny & the Juniors) (died 1983)

1941    World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland to try to negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany.

1941    World War II: The House of Commons in London is damaged by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.

1946   Dave Mason (born), English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Traffic and Fleetwood Mac)

1946   Donovan (born), Scottish-English singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor

1946   First successful launch of an American V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground.

1946   Graham Gouldman (born), English guitarist and songwriter (10cc, The Mindbenders, Wax)

1946   Maureen Lipman (born), English actress

1947   Jay Ferguson (born), American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne)

1948   Meg Foster (born), American actress

1948   The Republic of China implements “temporary provisions” granting President Chiang Kai-shek extended powers to deal with the Communist uprising; they will remain in effect until 1991.

1949   Miuccia Prada (born), Italian fashion designer

1950   Belle da Costa Greene (died), American librarian (born 1883)

1954   Bill Haley & His Comets release “Rock Around the Clock”, the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts.

1957    Sid Vicious (born), English singer and bass player (The Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Vicious White Kids, The Flowers of Romance) (died 1979)

1960   Bono (born), Irish singer-songwriter, actor, and activist (U2)

1960   Dean Heller (born), American politician

1960   The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes Operation Sandblast, the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.

1962   Marvel Comics publishes the first issue of The Incredible Hulk.

1969   Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Ap Bia begins with an assault on Hill 937. It will ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill.

1970   Bobby Orr scores “The Goal” to win the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals, for the Boston Bruins’ fourth NHL championship in their history.

1971    Monisha Kaltenborn (born), Indian-Austrian businesswoman

1975    Hélio Castroneves (born), Brazilian race car driver

1975    Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder in Japan.

1977    Joan Crawford (died), American actress (born 1905)

1977    Nick Heidfeld (born), German race car driver

1979   The Federated States of Micronesia become self-governing.

1981   François Mitterrand wins the presidential election and becomes the first Socialist President of France in the French Fifth Republic.

1989   Woody Shaw (died), American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (born 1944)

1994   John Wayne Gacy (died), American criminal (born 1942)

1994   Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa’s first black president.

1997   A 7.3 Mw earthquake strikes Iran’s Khorasan Province, killing 1,567, injuring over 2,300, leaving 50,000 homeless, and damaging or destroying over 15,000 homes.

1997   The Maeslantkering, a storm surge barrier in the Netherlands that is one of the world’s largest moving structures, is opened by Queen Beatrix.

1999   Shel Silverstein (died), American poet, author, and illustrator (born 1930)

2002  F.B.I. agent Robert Hanssen is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for selling United States secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.

2005  A hand grenade thrown by Vladimir Arutinian lands about 65 feet (20 metres) from U.S. President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctions and does not detonate.

2012   Carroll Shelby (died), American race car driver and designer (born 1923)

2012   The Damascus bombings were carried out using a pair of car bombs detonated by suicide bombers outside of a military intelligence complex in Damascus, Syria, killing 55 people and injuring 400 others

Follow me

EO Smith

Interests include biological anthropology, evolution, social behavior, and human behavior. Conducted field research in the Tana River National Primate Reserve, Kenya and on Angaur, Palau, Micronesia, as well as research with captive nonhuman primates at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Institute for Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya.
EO Smith
Follow me

Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)