October 10

Historic Events

2022

Ben S. Bernanke, Douglas W. Diamond and Philip H. Dybvig are jointly awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. ›

2018

Hurricane 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. ›

2018

The National Fire and Rescue Administration is founded, replacing the China Fire Services [zh] and the People's Armed Police Forestry Corps [zh] as China's primary firefighting agency. ›

2015

Twin bomb blasts in the Turkish capital Ankara kill 109 and injure 500+. ›

2010

The Netherlands Antilles are dissolved as a country. ›

2009

Armenia and Turkey sign the Zurich Protocols, intended to normalize relations. However, they are never ratified by either side. ›

2007

Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor becomes the first Malaysian in space on board Soyuz TMA-11. ›

2002

Iraq War: The United States Congress approves the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. ›

1998

A Lignes Aériennes Congolaises jetliner is shot down by rebels in Kindu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 41 people. ›

1997

Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 2553 crashes and explodes in Uruguay, killing 74. ›

1986

A 5.7 Mw San Salvador earthquake shakes El Salvador, killing 1,500. ›

1985

US Navy aircraft intercept an Egyptian airliner carrying the perpetrators of the Achille Lauro hijacking, and force it to land in Italy. ›

1980

The 7.1 Mw El Asnam earthquake shakes northern Algeria, killing 2,633 and injuring 8,369. ›

1980

The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front is founded in El Salvador. ›

1979

The Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant began operations in Eurajoki, Satakunta, Finland. ›

1975

Papua New Guinea joins the United Nations. ›

1973

U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with evasion of federal income tax. ›

1971

Aeroflot Flight 773 is destroyed by a bomb over Moscow Oblast, killing 25. ›

1970

Fiji becomes independent. ›

1970

Canada's October Crisis escalates when Quebec Vice Premier Pierre Laporte is kidnapped by members of the Front de libération du Québec. ›

1969

King Crimson releases their debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King. ›

1967

The Outer Space Treaty comes into force. ›

1964

The Tokyo Summer Olympics opening ceremony is the first to be relayed live by satellites. ›

1963

France cedes control of the Bizerte naval base to Tunisia. ›

1963

The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty comes into effect. ›

1957

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to Ghanaian finance minister Komla Agbeli Gbedemah after he is refused service in a Delaware restaurant. ›

1957

The Windscale fire results in Britain's worst nuclear accident. ›

1954

The 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. ›

1945

The Double Tenth Agreement is signed by the Communist Party and the Kuomintang about the future of China. ›

1938

Abiding by the Munich Agreement, Czechoslovakia completes its withdrawal from the Sudetenland. ›

1935

In Greece, a coup d'état ends the Second Hellenic Republic. ›

1933

A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by sabotage, the first such proven case in the history of commercial aviation. ›

1928

Chiang Kai-shek becomes Chairman of the Republic of China. ›

1920

The Carinthian plebiscite determines that the larger part of the Duchy of Carinthia should remain part of Austria. ›

1918

RMS Leinster is torpedoed and sunk by UB-123, killing 564, the largest loss of life on the Irish Sea. ›

1913

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike, completing major construction on the Panama Canal. ›

1911

The day after a bomb explodes prematurely, the Wuchang Uprising begins against the Chinese monarchy. ›

1903

The Women's Social and Political Union is founded in support of the enfranchisement of British women. ›

1868

The Ten Years' War begins against Spanish rule in Cuba. ›

1846

Triton, the largest moon of the planet Neptune, is discovered by English astronomer William Lassell. ›

1845

In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 students. ›

1814

War of 1812: The United States Revenue Marine attempts to defend the cutter Eagle from the Royal Navy. ›

1780

The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000–30,000 in the Caribbean. ›

1760

In a treaty with the Dutch colonial authorities, the Ndyuka people of Suriname – descended from escaped slaves – gain territorial autonomy. ›

1580

Over 600 Papal troops land in Ireland to support the Second Desmond Rebellion. ›

1575

Roman Catholic forces under Henry I, Duke of Guise, defeat the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others. ›

1492

The crew of Christopher Columbus's ship, the Santa Maria, attempt a mutiny. ›

1471

Sten Sture the Elder, the Regent of Sweden, with the help of farmers and miners, repels an attack by King Christian I of Denmark. ›

732

Charles Martel's forces defeat an Umayyad army near Tours, France. ›

680

The Battle of Karbala marks the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali. ›

19

The 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. ›