December 10

Events
Up to 1900
1041 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V.
1508 - The League of Cambrai is formed by Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand II of Aragon as an alliance against Venice.
1510 - Portuguese conquest of Goa: Portuguese naval forces under the command of Afonso de Albuquerque, and local mercenaries working for privateer Timoji, seize Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate, resulting in 451 years of Portuguese colonial rule.
1520 - Martin Luther burns his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate.
1684 - Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmund Halley.
1799 - France adopts the meter as its official unit of length.
1817 - Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state.
1836 - Emory College (now Emory University) is chartered in Oxford, Georgia.
1848 - Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, later Napoleon III of France, is elected President of France.
1861 - American Civil War: The Confederate States of America accept a rival state's pronouncement that declares Kentucky to be the 13th State of the Confederacy.
1864 - American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea - Major General William T. Sherman's Union Army troops reach Savannah, Georgia.
1868 - The first traffic lights are installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.
1869 - Wyoming grants women the right to vote.
1884 - Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is first published.
1890 - In New York City, the New York World Building is completed.
1896 - Alfred Nobel dies. From 1901, Nobel Prizes are given on this day in his memory.
1898 - Spanish-American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict.
1901 1950
1901 - The first Nobel Prizes are given.
1904 - The Pi Kappa Phi fraternity is founded in Charleston, South Carolina.
1906 - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt wins the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize of any kind.
1927 - The phrase Grand Ole Opry is used for the first time.
1932 - Thailand's Constitution is written, forming a constitutional monarchy.
1936 - Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII of the United Kingdom signs his Instrument of Abdication.
1941 - World War II: Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse - The Royal Navy ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers.
1941 - World War II: Battle of the Philippines - Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on the Philippine mainland.
1948 - The UN General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
1949 - Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan.
1951 2000
1953 - Dr. Albert Schweitzer is given the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work.
1963 - The United States Air Force's X-20 Dyna-Soar spaceplane program is cancelled by Robert McNamara.
1965 - The Grateful Dead play their first concert, at the Fillmore in San Francisco.
1968 - Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved 300-Yen robbery, is carried out in Tokyo.
1970 - Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, "father of the Green Revolution", is given the Nobel Peace Prize.
1975 - Activist Andrei Sakharov is given the Nobel Peace Prize, accepted by his wife, Yelena Bonner.
1978 - Arab-Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly given the Nobel Peace Prize.
1979 - Kaohsiung Incident: Taiwanese pro-democracy demonstrations are suppressed by the KMT dictatorship and organizers are arrested.
1983 - Solidarity leader Lech Walesa is given the Nobel Peace Prize, accepted by his wife, Danuta.
1983 - Raul Alfonsin becomes President of Argentina, ending a period of dictatorship.
1984 - Apartheid: Cleric and activist Desmond Tutu is given the Nobel Peace Prize.
1986 - The Holocaust: Elie Wiesel is given the Nobel Peace Prize.
1989 - Carlos Menem becomes President of Argentina.
1989 - Mongolian Revolution: At the country's first open pro-democracy demonstration, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces the creation of the Mongolia Democratic Union.
1996 - Rwandan Genocide: Military Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations Maurice Baril recommends that the UN multi-national forces in Zaire stand down.
1997 - Kazakhstan's capital city Akmola changes its name to Astana.
1998 - Capital punishment is abolished in Bulgaria.
From 2001
2002 - The High Court of Australia hands down its judgement in the internet defamation case of Gutnick v Dow Jones.
2004 - A tombstone commemorating the 35th anniversary of the death of Brazilian guerrilla Carlos Marighella is inaugurated in Salvador, Bahia.
2004 - Anil Kumble becomes India's highest wicket-taker, surpassing Kapil Dev's total of 435.
2005 - Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crashes near Port Harcourt, Nigeria, killing 108 people. 2 survive.
2007 - Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner becomes the first female President of Argentina.
2010 - Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo is unable to attend the ceremony in Oslo due to imprisonment.
2013 - A memorial service for Nelson Mandela is held in Johannesburg. See Death and state funeral of Nelson Mandela.
2014 - Receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Malala Yousafzai becomes the youngest person ever to receive a Nobel Prize, doing so with Indian activist Kailash Satyarthi.
2015 - Mauricio Macri becomes President of Argentina.
2016 - A church collapses in south-eastern Nigeria, killing over 100 people.
2016 - Two bombs explode in Istanbul, killing 38 people.
2019 - A shooting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, kills 6 people.
2019 - Alberto Fernandez becomes President of Argentina.
2019 - Sanna Marin becomes Prime Minister of Finland; she is the world's youngest political leader at the time she takes office, at age 34.
Births
Up to 1900
1394 - King James I of Scotland (d. 1437)
1538 - Giovanni Battista Guarini, Italian poet (d. 1612)
1588 - Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (d. 1637)
1699 - King Christian VI of Denmark (d. 1746)
1751 - George Shaw, English botanist and zoologist (d. 1813)
1787 - Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, American educator (d. 1851)
1804 - Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi, German mathematician (d. 1851)
1805 - Joseph Skoda, Czech physician (d. 1881)
1810 - Abraham K. Allison, American politician, 6th Governor of Florida (d. 1893)
1815 - Ada Lovelace, English mathematician (d. 1852)
1821 - Nikolay Nekrasov, Russian poet and critic (d. 1877)
1822 - Cesar Franck, French composer (d. 1890)
1824 - George MacDonald, Scottish minister, author and poet (d. 1905)
1827 - Eugene O'Keefe, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1913)
1830 - Emily Dickinson, American poet (d. 1886)
1841 - Joseph Henry Blackburne, English chess player (d. 1924)
1845 - Wilhelm von Bode, German art historian (d. 1929)
1851 - Melvin Dewey, American librarian and educator (d. 1931)
1861 - Daisy Greville, English courtesan (d. 1938)
1866 - Louis Bolk, Dutch biologist and anatomist (d. 1930)
1870 - Mary Bonaparte, pretender to France's Imperial throne (d. 1947)
1870 - Adolf Loos, Austrian architect (d. 1933)
1878 - Rajaji, Indian independence fighter (d. 1972)
1880 - Fred Immler, German actor (d. 1965)
1882 - Otto Neurath, Austrian sociologist and philosopher (d. 1945)
1882 - Shigenori Togo, Japanese politician (d. 1950)
1882 - Louis Wilkins, American pole vaulter (d. 1950)
1886 - Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, English field marshal, 17th Governor General of Canada (d. 1969)
1886 - Annie Bos, Dutch actress (d. 1975)
1886 - Victor McLaglen, English-American boxer and actor (d. 1959)
1890 - Laszlo Bardossy, 33rd Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1946)
1890 - Boss Johnson, Canadian politician, Premier of British Columbia (d. 1964)
1891 - Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, English field marshal and politician, 17th Governor General of Canada (d. 1969)
1891 - Nelly Sachs, German writer (d. 1970)
1901 1950
1903 - Una Merkel, American actress (d. 1986)
1903 - Dulce Maria Loynaz, Cuban poet (d. 1997)
1904 - Antonin Novotny, Czechoslovak politician (d. 1975)
1907 - Lucien Laurent, French footballer (d. 2005)
1908 - Olivier Messiaen, French composer and ornithologist (d. 1992)
1908 - Mario Evaristo, Argentine footballer (d. 1993)
1909 - Hermes Pan, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1990)
1913 - Morton Gould, American composer (d. 1996)
1914 - Dorothy Lamour, American actress and singer (d. 1996)
1920 - Clarice Lispector, Ukrainian-Brazilian writer (d. 1977)
1922 - Agnes Nixon, American actress, director and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1923 - Harold Gould, American actor (d. 2010)
1923 - Jorge Semprun, Spanish writer and politician (d. 2011)
1924 - Michael Manley, Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 1997)
1926 - Mike Haughney, Scottish footballer (d. 2002)
1926 - Guitar Slim, American blues guitarist (d. 1959)
1927 - Harvey Glatman, American serial killer (d. 1959)
1934 - Howard Martin Temin, American geneticist (d. 1994)
1937 - Raphael Maklouf, Israeli-English sculptor
1938 - Yuri Temirkanov, Russian viola player and conductor
1939 - Dave Bavetta, American basketball player and referee
1939 - Barry Cunliffe, English archaeologist and academic
1941 - Kyu Sakamoto, Japanese singer and actor (d. 1985)
1941 - Peter Sarstedt, English singer (d. 2017)
1941 - Fionnula Flanagan, Irish-American actress
1942 - Aritatsu Ogi, Japanese footballer
1942 - Ann Gloag, Scottish businesswoman
1943 - Edward Peel, English actor
1944 - John Birt, Baron Birt, English businessman
1944 - Andris Berzins, 8th President of Latvia
1948 - Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (d. 2004)
1949 - Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, British journalist and author
1949 - David Perdue, American politician, United States Senator for Georgia
1951 1975
1951 - Ellen Nikolaysen, Norwegian singer and actress
1952 - Clive Anderson, British television presenter
1952 - Susan Dey, American actress and producer
1952 - Greg Mortimer, Australian mountaineer
1952 - Bernd Jakubowski, German footballer (d. 2007)
1953 - Friedhelm Funkel, German footballer and manager
1954 - Florentin Smarandache, Romanian artist and writer
1955 - Ana Gabriel, Mexican singer
1955 - Sonya Leite, American voice actress
1956 - Rod Blagojevich, 40th Governor of Illinois
1957 - Michael Clarke Duncan, American actor (d. 2012)
1957 - Paul Hardcastle, British musician
1958 - Cornelia Funke, German author
1959 - Mark Aguirre, American basketball player and coach
1960 - Kenneth Branagh, Northern Irish actor
1962 - Rakhat Aliyev, Kazakhstani politician (d. 2015)
1962 - John de Wolf, Dutch footballer
1963 - Jahangir Khan, Pakistani squash player
1964 - Edith Gonzalez, Mexican actress (d. 2019)
1965 - Greg Giraldo, American comedian (d. 2010)
1965 - Stephanie Morgenstern, Swiss-Canadian actress, producer and screenwriter
1969 - Rob Blake, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
1972 - Brian Molko, Belgian-born singer and guitarist (Placebo)
1973 - Arden Myrin, American comedienne and actress
1974 - Meg White, American drummer
1975 - Josip Skoko, Australian footballer
1975 - Kristel Verbeke, Flemish singer, actress and host
From 1976
1977 - Andrea Henkel, German biathlete
1978 - Summer Phoenix, American actress
1981 - Fabio Rochemback, Brazilian footballer
1982 - Sultan Kosen, Turkish world's tallest man
1983 - Patrick Flueger, American actor
1983 - Ze Kalanga, Angolan footballer
1983 - Xavier Samuel, Australian actor
1983 - Katrin Siska, Estonian singer (Vanilla Ninja)
1985 - Charlie Adam, Scottish footballer
1985 - Raven-Symone, American actress, singer and dancer
1985 - Le Cong Vinh, Vietnamese footballer
1987 - Gonzalo Higuain, Argentine footballer
1988 - Wilfried Bony, Ivorian footballer
1988 - Neven Subotic, Serbian footballer
1989 - Ng Chee Yang, Singaporean singer-songwriter, dancer and actor
1990 - Shoya Tomizawa, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2010)
1991 - Dion Waiters, American basketball player
1993 - Alicia von Rittberg, German actress
1993 - Rachel Trachtenburg, American singer and actress
1994 - Matti Klinga, Finnish footballer
2014 - Princess Gabriella, Countess of Carlades
2014 - Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco
Deaths
Up to 1900
949 - Herman I, Duke of Swabia
1041 - Michael IV the Paphlagonian, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1010)
1198 - Averroes, Spanish astronomer, physicist and philosopher (b. 1126)
1508 - Rene II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1451)
1603 - William Gilbert, English scientist (b. 1544)
1626 - Edmund Gunter, English mathematician and academic (b. 1581)
1665 - Tarquinio Merula, Italian organist, violinist and composer (b. 1594)
1796 - Jose Leonardo Chirino, Venezuelan revolutionary (b. 1754)
1850 - Jozef Bem, Polish general (b. 1794)
1850 - Francois Sulpice Beudant, French mineralogist (b. 1787)
1851 - Karl Drais, German inventor (b. 1785)
1865 - King Leopold I of Belgium (b. 1790)
1896 - Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor (b. 1833)
1901 2000
1909 - Red Cloud, Oglala Lakota Sioux chief (b. 1822)
1911 - Joseph Dalton Hooker, English botanist (b. 1817)
1917 - Mackenzie Bowell, Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1823)
1926 - Nikola Pasic, Serbian politician and Prime Minister (b. 1845)
1928 - Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scottish artist, designer and architect (b. 1868)
1932 - Joseph Carruthers, Australian politician, 16th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1857)
1936 - Luigi Pirandello, Italian writer (b. 1867)
1937 - Richard Ponsonby-Fane, British japanologist (b. 1878)
1948 - Na Hye-sok, South Korean journalist, poet and painter (b. 1896)
1967 - Otis Redding, American singer (b. 1941)
1968 - Karl Barth, Swiss theologian (b. 1886)
1972 - Mark Van Doren, American poet, critic and academic (b. 1894)
1977 - Adolph Rupp, American basketball coach (b. 1901)
1978 - Ed Wood, American director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1924)
1979 - Ann Dvorak, American actress and singer (b. 1912)
1982 - Freeman Gosden, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1899)
1986 - Kate Wolf, American singer (b. 1942)
1991 - Headman Shabalala, South African singer (b. 1945)
1994 - Keith Joseph, English politician (b. 1918)
1999 - Franjo Tudjman, President of Croatia (b. 1922)
2000 - Marie Windsor, American actress (b. 1919)
From 2001
2001 - Ashok Kumar, Indian actor (b. 1911)
2005 - Richard Pryor, American actor and comedian (b. 1940)
2005 - Eugene McCarthy, American politician (b. 1916)
2006 - Augusto Pinochet, former President of Chile (b. 1915)
2006 - Salvatore Pappalardo, Italian cardinal (b. 1918)
2010 - John Bennett Fenn, American chemist (b. 1917)
2012 - Lisa Della Casa, Swiss operatic soprano (b. 1919)
2012 - Iajuddin Ahmed, President of Bangladesh (b. 1931)
2013 - Jim Hall, American musician (b. 1930)
2014 - Ralph Giordano, German writer and publicist (b. 1923)
2014 - Judy Baar Topinka, American politician (b. 1944)
2014 - Robert B. Oakley, American diplomat (b. 1931)
2014 - Robert Wolfe, American historian and World War II veteran (b. 1921)
2014 - Bob Solinger, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1926)
2015 - Ron Bouchard, American NASCAR driver (b. 1948)
2015 - Dolph Schayes, American basketball player (b. 1928)
2015 - Arnold Peralta, Honduran footballer (b. 1989)
2016 - Ken Hechler, American politician (b. 1914)
2016 - A. A. Gill, English writer and critic (b. 1954)
2017 - Angry Grandpa, American internet personality (b. 1950)
2017 - Simeon Booker, American journalist (b. 1918)
2017 - Manno Charlemagne, Haitian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1948)
2017 - Max Clifford, British publicist (b. 1943)
2017 - Lalji Singh, Indian biologist and zoologist (b. 1947)
2017 - Eva Todor, Hungarian-Brazilian actress (b. 1919)
2017 - Viktor Potapov, Russian sailor (b. 1947)
2017 - Antonio Riboldi, Italian Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1923)
2018 - C. N. Balakrishnan, Indian politician (b. 1934)
2018 - Chiang Pin-kung, Taiwanese politician (b. 1932)
2018 - Robert Spaemann, German Roman Catholic philosopher (b. 1927)
2018 - Xavier Tilliette, French philosopher and theologian (b. 1921)
2019 - Barrie Keeffe, English screenwriter (b. 1945)
2019 - Yury Luzhkov, Russian politician, former Mayor of Moscow (b. 1936)
2019 - Gershon Kingsley, German-American composer (b. 1922)
2019 - Philip McKeon, American actor (b. 1964)
2019 - Jim Smith, English footballer and manager (b. 1940)
Observances
Nobel Prize Day
Constitution Day (Thailand)
Human Rights Day (United Nations)
Days of the year