September 10

Historic Events

2025

American right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk is assassinated while onstage at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. ›

2025

A liquefied petroleum gas tank truck overturns and explodes in Iztapalapa, Mexico City, killing 32 people and injuring 90 others. ›

2024

Polaris Dawn, the first private crewed spaceflight to involve a spacewalk, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ›

2017

Hurricane Irma makes landfall on Cudjoe Key, Florida as a Category 4, after causing catastrophic damage throughout the Caribbean. Irma resulted in 134 deaths and $77.2 billion (2017 USD) in damage. ›

2008

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in history, is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland. ›

2007

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan after seven years in exile, following a military coup in October 1999. ›

2002

Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, becomes a full member of the United Nations. ›

2001

Antônio da Costa Santos, mayor of Campinas, Brazil is assassinated. ›

2001

During his appearance on the British TV game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, contestant Charles Ingram reaches the £1 million top prize, but it was later revealed that he had cheated to the top prize by listening to coughs from his wife and another contestant. ›

2000

Operation Barras successfully frees six British soldiers held captive for over two weeks and contributes to the end of the Sierra Leone Civil War. ›

1977

Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of torture and murder, is the last person to be executed by guillotine in France. ›

1976

A British Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident and an Inex-Adria DC-9 collide near Zagreb, Yugoslavia, killing 176. ›

1976

TWA Flight 355 is hijacked by five Croatian nationalists. The hijackers surrender upon landing in Paris. ›

1976

An Indian Airlines flight is hijacked by six Kashmiri separatists and diverted to Lahore International Airport, where the passengers and crew are released. ›

1974

Guinea-Bissau gains independence from Portugal. ›

1967

The people of Gibraltar vote to remain a British dependency rather than becoming part of Spain. ›

1961

In the Italian Grand Prix, a crash causes the death of German Formula One driver Wolfgang von Trips and 15 spectators who are hit by his Ferrari, the deadliest accident in F1 history. ›

1961

A President Airlines Douglas DC-6 crashes just after takeoff from Shannon Airport, Ireland. All 83 passengers and crew are killed. ›

1960

At the Summer Olympics in Rome, Abebe Bikila becomes the first sub-Saharan African to win a gold medal, winning the marathon in bare feet. ›

1943

World War II: In the course of Operation Achse, German troops begin their occupation of Rome. ›

1942

World War II: The British Army carries out an amphibious landing on Madagascar to re-launch Allied offensive operations in the Madagascar Campaign. ›

1939

World War II: The submarine HMS Oxley is mistakenly sunk by the submarine HMS Triton near Norway and becomes the Royal Navy's first loss of a submarine in the war. ›

1939

World War II: The Canadian declaration of war on Germany receives royal assent. ›

1937

Nine nations attend the Nyon Conference to address international piracy in the Mediterranean Sea. ›

1936

The first world individual Speedway World Championship was held at London's Wembley Stadium. ›

1932

The New York City Subway's third competing subway system, the municipally owned IND, is opened. ›

1919

The Republic of German-Austria signs the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, ceding significant territories to Italy, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. ›

1918

Russian Civil War: The Red Army captures Kazan. ›

1898

Empress Elisabeth of Austria is assassinated by Luigi Lucheni. ›

1897

Lattimer massacre: A sheriff's posse kills 19 unarmed striking immigrant miners in Lattimer, Pennsylvania, United States. ›

1858

George Mary Searle discovers the asteroid 55 Pandora. ›

1846

Elias Howe is granted a patent for the sewing machine. ›

1844

The treaty of Tangier ends the Franco-Moroccan War, which Morocco lost, and forces it to recognise the French possessions in Algeria. ›

1813

The United States defeats a British Fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. ›

1798

At the Battle of St. George's Caye, British Honduras defeats Spain. ›

1776

American Revolutionary War: Nathan Hale volunteers to spy for the Continental Army. ›

1724

Johann Sebastian Bach leads the first performance of Jesu, der du meine Seele, BWV 78, a chorale cantata based on a passion hymn by Johann Rist. ›

1640

Reapers' War: Junta de Braços (Assembly of Estates) of the Principality of Catalonia summoned. It assumes the sovereignty and enacts a series of revolutionary measures which will lead to the Catalan Republic. ›

1622

Fifty-five Christians are executed in Nagasaki during the Great Genna Martyrdom. ›

1608

John Smith is elected council president of Jamestown, Virginia. ›

1607

Edward Maria Wingfield is ousted as first president of the governing council of the Colony of Virginia; he is replaced by John Ratcliffe. ›

1573

German pirate Klein Henszlein and 33 of his crew are beheaded in Hamburg. ›

1570

Spanish Jesuit missionaries land in present-day Virginia to establish the short-lived Ajacán Mission. ›

1561

Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima: Takeda Shingen defeats Uesugi Kenshin in the climax of their ongoing conflicts. ›

1547

The Battle of Pinkie, the last full-scale military confrontation between England and Scotland, resulting in a decisive victory for the forces of Edward VI. ›

1515

Thomas Wolsey is invested as a Cardinal. ›

1509

An earthquake known as "The Lesser Judgment Day" hits Constantinople. ›

1419

John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy is assassinated by adherents of the Dauphin, the future Charles VII of France. ›

1089

The first synod of pope Urban II starts in Melfi, with seventy bishops and twelve abbots in attendance. The synod issues several decrees about church law and deals with the relation with the Greek part of the Church. ›

506

The bishops of Visigothic Gaul meet in the Council of Agde. ›

422

Election of pope Celestine I following the death of pope Boniface I earlier that month. ›