October 10Birthdays & History

On this day: October 10 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 19The Roman general Germanicus dies near Antioch. He was convinced that the mysterious illness that ended in his death was a result of poisoning by the Syrian governor Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, whom he had ordered to leave the province.EuropeMiddle East
2. 680The Battle of Karbala marks the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali.Middle East
3. 732Charles Martel's forces defeat an Umayyad army near Tours, France.Middle EastEurope
4. 1471Sten Sture the Elder, the Regent of Sweden, with the help of farmers and miners, repels an attack by King Christian I of Denmark.Europe
5. 1492The crew of Christopher Columbus's ship, the Santa Maria, attempt a mutiny.Latin America
6. 1575Roman Catholic forces under Henry I, Duke of Guise, defeat the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others.Europe
7. 1580Over 600 Papal troops land in Ireland to support the Second Desmond Rebellion.Europe
8. 1760In a treaty with the Dutch colonial authorities, the Ndyuka people of Suriname – descended from escaped slaves – gain territorial autonomy.EuropeLatin America
9. 1780The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000–30,000 in the Caribbean.Latin America
10. 1814War of 1812: The United States Revenue Marine attempts to defend the cutter Eagle from the Royal Navy.North America
11. 1845In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 students.North America
12. 1846Triton, the largest moon of the planet Neptune, is discovered by English astronomer William Lassell.Europe
13. 1868The Ten Years' War begins against Spanish rule in Cuba.EuropeLatin America
14. 1903The Women's Social and Political Union is founded in support of the enfranchisement of British women.Europe
15. 1911The day after a bomb explodes prematurely, the Wuchang Uprising begins against the Chinese monarchy.Asia
16. 1913U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike, completing major construction on the Panama Canal.North AmericaLatin America
17. 1918RMS Leinster is torpedoed and sunk by UB-123, killing 564, the largest loss of life on the Irish Sea.Europe
18. 1920The Carinthian plebiscite determines that the larger part of the Duchy of Carinthia should remain part of Austria.Europe
19. 1928Chiang Kai-shek becomes Chairman of the Republic of China.Asia
20. 1933A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by sabotage, the first such proven case in the history of commercial aviation.North America
21. 1935In Greece, a coup d'état ends the Second Hellenic Republic.Europe
22. 1938Abiding by the Munich Agreement, Czechoslovakia completes its withdrawal from the Sudetenland.Europe
23. 1945The Double Tenth Agreement is signed by the Communist Party and the Kuomintang about the future of China.Asia
24. 1954The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate of Muscat, Neil Innes, sends a signal to the Sultanate's forces, accompanied with oil explorers, to penetrate Fahud, marking the beginning of Jebel Akhdar War.Middle East
25. 1957The Windscale fire results in Britain's worst nuclear accident.Europe
26. 1957U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to Ghanaian finance minister Komla Agbeli Gbedemah after he is refused service in a Delaware restaurant.North AmericaAfrica
27. 1963The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty comes into effect.World
28. 1963France cedes control of the Bizerte naval base to Tunisia.EuropeAfrica
29. 1964The Tokyo Summer Olympics opening ceremony is the first to be relayed live by satellites.Asia
30. 1967The Outer Space Treaty comes into force.World
31. 1969King Crimson releases their debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King.Europe
32. 1970Fiji becomes independent.Oceania
33. 1970Canada's October Crisis escalates when Quebec Vice Premier Pierre Laporte is kidnapped by members of the Front de libération du Québec.North America
34. 1971Aeroflot Flight 773 is destroyed by a bomb over Moscow Oblast, killing 25.Europe
35. 1973U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with evasion of federal income tax.North America
36. 1975Papua New Guinea joins the United Nations.Oceania
37. 1979The Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant began operations in Eurajoki, Satakunta, Finland.Europe
38. 1980The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front is founded in El Salvador.Latin America
39. 1980The 7.1 Mw El Asnam earthquake shakes northern Algeria, killing 2,633 and injuring 8,369.Africa
40. 1985US Navy aircraft intercept an Egyptian airliner carrying the perpetrators of the Achille Lauro hijacking, and force it to land in Italy.North AmericaMiddle EastEurope
41. 1986A 5.7 Mw San Salvador earthquake shakes El Salvador, killing 1,500.Latin America
42. 1997Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 2553 crashes and explodes in Uruguay, killing 74.Latin America
43. 1998A Lignes Aériennes Congolaises jetliner is shot down by rebels in Kindu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 41 people.Africa
44. 2002Iraq War: The United States Congress approves the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002.Middle EastNorth America
45. 2007Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor becomes the first Malaysian in space on board Soyuz TMA-11.Asia
46. 2009Armenia and Turkey sign the Zurich Protocols, intended to normalize relations. However, they are never ratified by either side.EuropeMiddle East
47. 2010The Netherlands Antilles are dissolved as a country.Europe
48. 2015Twin bomb blasts in the Turkish capital Ankara kill 109 and injure 500+.Middle East
49. 2018Hurricane Michael makes landfall in the Florida Panhandle as a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane. It kills 57 people in the United States, 45 in Florida, and causes an estimated $25.1 billion in damage.North America
50. 2018The National Fire and Rescue Administration is founded, replacing the China Fire Services and the People's Armed Police Forestry Corps as China's primary firefighting agency.Asia
51. 2022Ben S. Bernanke, Douglas W. Diamond and Philip H. Dybvig are jointly awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.North America

Source: Wikipedia "October 10" / CC BY-SA 4.0