What happened on May 10? There are more than 310 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About May 10
May 10 is the 131st day of the year 2024. There are 235 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday. This day falls under the 19th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Squirrel Island, Maine 04570 sunrise occured at 05:15 AM and sunset occured at 07:53 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Taurus. The modern birthstone for this month is Emerald while the mystical birthstone is Sapphire.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 264 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
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Historical Events For May 10
- 70Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, opens a full-scale assault on Jerusalem and attacks the city’s Third Wall to the northwest.
- 1291Scottish nobles recognize the authority of Edward I of England.
- 1497Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World.
- 1503Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous turtles there.
- 1534Jacques Cartier visits Newfoundland.
- 1655England, with troops under the command of Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables, annexes Jamaica from Spain.
- 1768John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for The North Briton severely criticizing King George III. This action provokes rioting in London.
- 1774Louis XVI becomes King of France.
- 1775American Revolutionary War: A small Colonial militia led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold captures Fort Ticonderoga.
- 1775American Revolutionary War: Representatives from the Thirteen Colonies begin the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
- 1796First Coalition: Napoleon I of France wins a decisive victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the Adda River in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men.
- 1801First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America.
- 1824The National Gallery in London opens to the public.
- 1833The desecration of the grave of the viceroy of southern Vietnam Le Van Duyet by Emperor Minh Mang provokes his adopted son to start a revolt.
- 1837Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
- 1849Astor 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.
- 1857Indian Mutiny: In India, the first war of Independence begins. Sepoys revolt against their commanding officers at Meerut.
- 1863American Civil War: Confederate General Stonewall Jackson dies eight days after he is accidentally shot by his own troops.
- 1864American Civil War: Colonel Emory Upton leads a 10-regiment “Attack-in-depth” assault against the Confederate works at The Battle of Spotsylvania, which, though ultimately unsuccessful, would provide the idea for the massive assault against the Bloody Angle on May 12. Upton is slightly wounded but is immediately promoted to Brigadier general.
- 1865American Civil War: In Kentucky, Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate raider William Quantrill, who lingers until his death on June 6.
- 1865American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia.
- 1869The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah (not Promontory Point, Utah) with the golden spike.
- 1872Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States.
- 1877Romania declares itself independent from the Ottoman Empire following the Senate adoption of Mihail Kogălniceanu’s Declaration of Independence. This act is recognized on March 26, 1881 after the end of the Romanian War of Independence.
- 1893The 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.
- 1908Mother’s Day is observed for the first time in the United States, in Grafton, West Virginia.
- 1920Helen Crummy MBE, Scottish community activist (d. 2011).
- 1922The United States annex the Kingman Reef.
- 1924J. Edgar Hoover is appointed the Director of the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation, and remains so until his death in 1972.
- 1933Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings.
- 1940World War II: Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
- 1940World War II: Invasion of Iceland by the United Kingdom.
- 1940World War II: The first German bombs of the war fall on England at Chilham and Petham, in Kent.
- 1940World War II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- 1941World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland to try to negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany.
- 1941World War II: The House of Commons in London is damaged by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.
- 1942World War II: The Thai Phayap Army invades the Shan States during the Burma Campaign.
- 1946First successful launch of an American V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground.
- 1948The 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.
- 1954Bill Haley & His Comets release “Rock Around the Clock”, the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts.
- 1960The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes Operation Sandblast, the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.
- 1969Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Ap Bia begins with an assault on Hill 937. It will ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill.
- 1979The Federated States of Micronesia become self-governing.
- 1981François Mitterrand wins the presidential election and becomes the first Socialist President of France in the French Fifth Republic.
- 1993In Thailand, a fire at the Kader Toy Factory kills 156 workers.
- 1994Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa’s first black president.
- 1997A 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.
- 1997The Maeslantkering, a storm surge barrier in the Netherlands that is one of the world’s largest moving structures, is opened by Queen Beatrix.
- 2002F.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.
- 2005A 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.
- 2008An EF4 tornado strikes the Oklahoma-Kansas state line, killing 21 people and injuring over 100.
- 2008War in Darfur: The Justice and Equality Movement and Sudanese government forces clash in Omdurman and Khartoum, the first time the fighting takes place in the nation’s capital.
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Who Were Born On May 10?
- 213Claudius II, Roman emperor (d. 270)
- 1265Emperor Fushimi of Japan (d. 1317)
- 1604Jean Mairet, French dramatist (d. 1686)
- 1641Dudley North, English economist (d. 1691)
- 1714Sophie Charlotte Ackermann, German actress (d. 1792)
- 1727Anne Robert Turgot, French statesman (d. 1781)
- 1746Gaspard Monge, French mathematician (d. 1818)
- 1755Robert Gray, American sea captain (d. 1806)
- 1756Singu Min, King of Burma (d. 1782)
- 1760Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, French composer (La Marseillaise) (d. 1836)
- 1760Johann Peter Hebel, German poet (d. 1826)
- 1770Louis Nicolas Davout, French marshal (d. 1823)
- 1775Antoine Charles Louis Lasalle, French cavalry general (d. 1809)
- 1788Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist (d. 1827)
- 1788Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, Russian-born queen of Württemberg (d. 1819)
- 1810Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, British lexicographer (d. 1897)
- 1813Montgomery Blair, American politician (d. 1883)
- 1838John Wilkes Booth, American actor and assassin of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1865)
- 1840Hadzhi Dimitar, Bulgarian revolutionary (d. 1868)
- 1841James Gordon Bennett Jr., American publisher (New York Herald) (d. 1918)
- 1843Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (d. 1920)
- 1847Wilhelm Killing, German mathematician (d. 1923)
- 1863Upendrakishore Ray, Indian writer, painter and composer (d. 1915)
- 1866Léon Bakst, Russian artist (d. 1924)
- 1868Ed Barrow, American baseball manager (d. 1953)
- 1872Marcel Mauss, French sociologist (d. 1950)
- 1874Moses Schorr, Polish rabbi, senator, historian and orientalist (d. 1941)
- 1876Ivan Cankar, Slovenian writer (d. 1918)
- 1878Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1929)
- 1879Symon Petliura, Ukrainian statesman (d. 1926)
- 1886Felix Manalo, Philippine Founder and 1st Executive Minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo (d. 1963)
- 1886Karl Barth, Swiss Protestant theologian (d. 1968)
- 1886Olaf Stapledon, British author and philosopher (d. 1950)
- 1888Max Steiner, Austrian composer (d. 1971)
- 1889Mae Murray, American actress (d. 1965)
- 1890Alfred Jodl, German general (d. 1946)
- 1895Kama Chinen, Japanese supercentenarian (d. 2010)
- 1897Einar Gerhardsen, Prime minister of Norway (d. 1987)
- 1898Ariel Durant, American historian (d. 1981)
- 1899Dimitri Tiomkin, Ukrainian-born composer (d. 1979)
- 1899Fred Astaire, American dancer and actor (d. 1987)
- 1901J.D. Bernal, British crystallographer (d. 1971)
- 1902Anatole Litvak, Ukrainian-born film director (d. 1974)
- 1902David O. Selznick, American film producer (d. 1965)
- 1903Otto Bradfisch, Nazi leader (d. 1994)
- 1905Markos Vamvakaris, Greek rebetiko musician and songwriter (d. 1972)
- 1907Freddie Spencer Chapman, British army officer (d. 1971)
- 1908Carl Albert, American politician (d. 2000)
- 1909Maybelle Carter, American musician (d. 1978)
- 1911Bel Kaufman, American author
- 1915Sir Denis Thatcher, British businessman and husband of Margaret Thatcher (d. 2003)
- 1916Milton Babbitt, American composer (d. 2011)
- 1918George Welch, American pilot (d. 1954)
- 1918T. Berry Brazelton, American pediatrician
- 1920Bert Weedon, British guitarist
- 1920Jeff Cooper, American Handgun Expert (d. 2006)
- 1922Nancy Walker, American actress (d. 1992)
- 1923Heydar Aliyev, Ex-President and Leader of Azerbaijan Republic (d. 2003)
- 1926Hugo Banzer, Bolivian dictator (d. 2002)
- 1927Nayantara Sahgal, Indian author
- 1928Arnold Rüütel, Estonian president
- 1929Antonine Maillet, French-Canadian novelist and playwright
- 1930Pat Summerall, American football player and broadcaster
- 1930Scott Muni, American radio DJ (d. 2004)
- 1931Ettore Scola, Italian director and screenwriter
- 1933Barbara Taylor Bradford, English writer
- 1934Cliff Wilson, Welsh snooker player (d. 1994)
- 1934Jeanine Basinger, American film scholar
- 1935Larry Williams, American singer and songwriter (d. 1980)
- 1936Gary Owens, American actor and announcer
- 1936Timothy Birdsall, English cartoonist (d. 1963)
- 1937Jim Hickman, American baseball player
- 1937Tamara Press, Soviet athlete
- 1938Dang Nhat Minh, Vietnamese film director
- 1938Jean Becker, French director, screenwriter and actor
- 1938Manuel Santana, Spanish tennis champion
- 1938Marina Vlady, French actress
- 1940Wayne A. Downing, retired United States Army general
- 1942Jim Calhoun, American college basketball coach
- 1942Youssouf Sambo Bâ, Burkinabé politician
- 1943David Clennon, American actor
- 1943Richard Darman, American economist
- 1944Jim Abrahams, American film director
- 1944Marie-France Pisier, French actress (d. 2011)
- 1946Dave Mason, English musician (Traffic)
- 1946Diderik Wagenaar, Dutch composer and musical theorist
- 1946Donovan, Scottish musician
- 1946Graham Gouldman, British musician and songwriter (10cc)
- 1946Maureen Lipman, English actress
- 1947Caroline Cooney, American author
- 1947Jay Ferguson, American musician and composer
- 1947Thomas Tessier, American author
- 1948Meg Foster, American actress
- 1952Kikki Danielsson, Swedish singer
- 1952Manuel Mora Morales, Spanish director and writer
- 1952Sly Dunbar, Jamaican musician
- 1953John Diamond, English journalist (d. 2001)
- 1953Tito Santana, Mexican-American professional wrestler
- 1954F. Charles Brunicardi, American surgeon
- 1955Chris Berman, American sportscaster
- 1955Mark David Chapman, American murderer of John Lennon
- 1956Jonathan Roberts, American writer played Mufasa from Lion King.
- 1956Paige O'Hara, American Broadway singer and actress
- 1956Vladislav Listyev, Russian television anchor and journalist (d. 1995)
- 1957Sid Vicious, English bassist (The Sex Pistols) (d. 1979)
- 1958Gaétan Boucher, Canadian speed skater
- 1958Rick Santorum, American politician
- 1958Yu Suzuki, Japanese creator of Virtua Fighter series
- 1959Danny Schayes, American basketball player
- 1959Victoria Rowell, American actress
- 1960Bono, Irish singer (U2)
- 1960Dean Heller, American politician
- 1960Merlene Ottey, Jamaican/Slovenian track athlete
- 1961Danny Carey, American drummer (Tool, Pigmy Love Circus)
- 1961Johanna ter Steege, Dutch actress
- 1962Brad Soderberg, American college basketball head coach
- 1962Robby Thompson, American baseball player
- 1963A. Raja, Indian politician
- 1963Lisa Nowak, American astronaut
- 1965Linda Evangelista, Canadian supermodel
- 1965Rony Seikaly, Lebanese basketball player
- 1966Jonathan Edwards, English athlete
- 1967Jon Ronson, British journalist and author
- 1967Nobuhiro Takeda, Japanese footballer and sportscaster
- 1967Scott Brison, Canadian politician
- 1967Young MC, American rapper
- 1968Al Murray, British comedian
- 1968Ed Sanders, British actor and television personality
- 1968Erik Palladino, American actor
- 1968William Regal (Darren Matthews), English professional wrestler
- 1969Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch footballer
- 1969John Scalzi, American writer
- 1970Dallas Roberts, American actor
- 1970David Weir, Scottish footballer
- 1970Gabriela Montero, Venezuelan pianist
- 1970Gina Philips, American actress
- 1970Perry Blake, Irish singer/songwriter
- 1970Sally Phillips, British actress and comedienne
- 1971Ådne Søndrål, Norwegian speed skater
- 1971Adriano Giannini, Italian actor
- 1971Craig Mack, American rapper
- 1971Leslie Stefanson, American actress
- 1972Radosław Majdan, Polish footballer
- 1973Aviv Geffen, Israeli singer/songwriter (Blackfield)
- 1973Jerome Williams, American basketball player
- 1973Ollie le Roux, South African rugby player
- 1974Liu Fang, Chinese musician
- 1974Sylvain Wiltord, French footballer
- 1975Adam Deadmarsh, American ice hockey player
- 1975Andrea Anders, American Actress
- 1975Hélio Castroneves, Brazilian race car driver
- 1975Shin Jung-hwan, Korean singer
- 1975Torbjørn Brundtland, Norwegian musician (Röyksopp)
- 1976Aggeliki Tsiolakoudi, Greek javelin thrower
- 1976Rachel Gordon, Australian actress
- 1976Rob Malda, American internet writer/editor (Slashdot)
- 1976Steve Howard, Scottish footballer
- 1976Stuart Braithwaite, Scottish musician (Mogwai)
- 1976Udo Mechels, Belgian singer
- 1977Chas Licciardello, Australian comedian
- 1977Denise Ho, Hong Kong singer
- 1977Henri Camara, Senegalese footballer
- 1977Keith Murray, American singer (We Are Scientists)
- 1977Nick Heidfeld, German Formula One driver
- 1978Kenan Thompson, American actor
- 1979Lee Hyori, South Korean singer
- 1980Namitha Kapoor, Indian actress
- 1981Humberto Suazo, Chilean footballer
- 1981Samuel Dalembert, Haitian basketball player
- 1982Daniel Harris, Australian rules footballer
- 1982Jeremy Gable, American playwright
- 1983Gustav Fridolin, Swedish politician
- 1983Natalia Zabala, Spanish beauty pageant contestant
- 1984Edward Mujica, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1984Kristyna Myles, British singer
- 1985Odette Yustman, American actress
- 1985Ryan Getzlaf, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1987Anej Lovrečič, Slovenian footballer
- 1987Wilson Chandler, American basketball player
- 1989Lindsey Shaw, American actress
- 1990Josh Dugan, Australian rugby league player
- 1990Lauren Potter, American Actress
- 1991Giorgos Machlelis, Greek footballer
- 1992Charice Pempengco, Filipino singer
- 1992Zia Marquez, Filipino actress
- 1993Mirai Shida, Japanese actress
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Who Died On May 10?
- 1034Mieszko II, King of Poland (b. 990)
- 1290Duke Rudolph II of Austria (b. 1271)
- 1424Go-Kameyama, Emperor of Japan
- 1482Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1397)
- 1493Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll, Scottish politician
- 1521Sebastian Brant, Alsatian humanist (b. 1457)
- 1566Leonhart Fuchs, German botanist (b. 1501)
- 1641Johan Banér, Swedish soldier (b. 1596)
- 1657Gustaf Horn, Swedish soldier and politician (b. 1592)
- 1691Colonel John Birch, English soldier (b. 1615)
- 1692Sarah Osborne, one of the first accused in the Salem witch trials (b. circa 1643)
- 1696Jean de La Bruyère, French writer (b. 1645)
- 1717John Hathorne, American magistrate (b. 1641)
- 1726Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, English soldier (b. 1670)
- 1733Barton Booth, English actor (b. 1681)
- 1737Emperor Nakamikado of Japan (b. 1702)
- 1774King Louis XV of France (b. 1710)
- 1775Marie Magdalene Charlotte Ackermann, German actress (b. 1757)
- 1787William Watson, English physician and scientist (b. 1715)
- 1792John Stevens, American delegate to the Continental Congress
- 1798George Vancouver, British navy officer and explorer (b. 1757)
- 1807Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, French soldier (b. 1725)
- 1818Paul Revere, American patriot (b. 1735)
- 1829Thomas Young, English physician and linguist (b. 1773)
- 1850Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist and physicist (b. 1778)
- 1863Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, American Confederate general (b. 1824)
- 1868Henry Bennett, American politician (b. 1808)
- 1889Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian satirist (b. 1826)
- 1897Andrés Bonifacio, Filipino revolutionary leader (b. 1863)
- 1904Andrei Ryabushkin, Russian painter (b. 1861)
- 1937William Tedmarsh, English-born silent movie actor (b. 1876)
- 1945Konrad Henlein, pro-Nazi Czechoslovakian politician (b. 1898)
- 1945Richard Glücks, German SS officer (b. 1889)
- 1950Belle da Costa Greene, American librarian, bibliographer, archivist (b. 1883)
- 1955John Radecki, Australian stained glass artist (b. 1865)
- 1955Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer (b. 1881)
- 1956Michalis Karaolis, Greek-Cypriot EOKA fighter (b. 1934)
- 1960Yury Olesha, Russian novelist (b. 1899)
- 1963Gene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb, American football player (b. 1931)
- 1964Mikhail Larionov, Russian painter (b. 1881)
- 1965Hubertus van Mook, Acting Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1942 to 1948 (b. 1894)
- 1967Lorenzo Bandini, Italian racing driver, (b. 1935)
- 1968Scotty Beckett, American child actor (b. 1929)
- 1974Hal Mohr, American cinematographer, husband of Evelyn Venable (b. 1894)
- 1976Elias Aslaksen, Norwegian religious figure (b. 1888)
- 1977Joan Crawford, American actress (b. 1905)
- 1982Peter Weiss, German writer and artist (b. 1916)
- 1988Shen Congwen, Chinese writer (b. 1902)
- 1989Woody Shaw, American jazz musician (b. 1944)
- 1990Susan Oliver, American actress (b. 1932)
- 1990Walker Percy, American author (b. 1916)
- 1992Sylvia Syms, American jazz singer (b. 1917)
- 1993Stephen Ross, English politician (b. 1926)
- 1994John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (b. 1942)
- 1997Joan Weston, American Roller Derby (b. 1935)
- 1999Shel Silverstein, American poet and composer (b. 1930)
- 2000Jules Deschênes, Quebec superior court judge (b. 1923)
- 2001Deborah Walley, American actress (b. 1943)
- 2001Sudhakarrao Naik, Indian politician (b. 1934)
- 2002Kaifi Azmi, Indian poet and songwriter (b. 1919)
- 2002Lynda Lyon Block, American convicted murderer (b. 1948)
- 2002Yves Robert, French actor, screenwriter and director (b. 1920)
- 2003Milan Vukcevich, Yugoslavian chemist and chess problem composer (b. 1937)
- 2005David Wayne, American singer (Metal Church) (b. 1958)
- 2006A. M. Rosenthal, American newspaper editor (b. 1922)
- 2006Raizo Matsuno, Japanese politician (b. 1917)
- 2006Soraya, Colombian-American singer (b. 1969)
- 2006Val Guest, British film director (b. 1911)
- 2008Jessie Jacobs, Australian actress (b. 1990)
- 2008Leyla Gencer, Turkish soprano (b. 1928)
- 2010Frank Frazetta, American artist (b. 1928)
- 2011Michael Baze, American horse racing jockey (b. 1987)
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