December 10

Historic Events

2021

A widespread, deadly, and violent tornado outbreak slams the Central, Midwestern, and Southern regions of the United States. Eighty-nine people are killed by the tornadoes, with most of the fatalities occurring in Kentucky, where a single tornado kills 57 people, and injures hundreds of others. Another tornado in Edwardsville, Illinois strikes an Amazon warehouse, killing six workers. ›

2019

The Ostrava hospital attack in the Czech Republic results in eight deaths, including the perpetrator. ›

2017

ISIL is defeated in Iraq. ›

2016

Two explosions outside a football stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, kill 38 people and injure 166 others. ›

2015

Rojava conflict: The Syrian Democratic Council is established in Dêrik, forming the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria. ›

2014

Palestinian minister Ziad Abu Ein is killed after the suppression of a demonstration by Israeli forces in the village (Turmus'ayya) in Ramallah. ›

2005

Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crashes at Port Harcourt International Airport in Nigeria, killing 108 people. ›

1999

Helen Clark is sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand, the second woman to hold the post and the first following an election. ›

1996

The new Constitution of South Africa is promulgated by Nelson Mandela. ›

1995

The Israeli army withdraws from Nablus pursuant to the terms of Oslo Accord. ›

1994

Rwandan genocide: Maurice Baril, military advisor to the U.N. Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, recommends that UNAMIR stand down. ›

1993

The last shift leaves Wearmouth Colliery in Sunderland. The closure of the 156-year-old pit marks the end of the old County Durham coalfield, which had been in operation since the Middle Ages. ›

1992

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan establishes the Marriage Fund in the United Arab Emirates in response to rising wedding prices. ›

1991

The Nagorno-Karabakh independence referendum is held, with 99.98% voting in favor of independence. ›

1991

Nursultan Nazarbayev is sworn in as the 1st President of Kazakhstan. ›

1991

The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic is renamed into the Republic of Kazakhstan. ›

1989

Mongolian Revolution: At the country's first open pro-democracy public demonstration, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces the establishment of the Mongolian Democratic Union. ›

1984

United Nations General Assembly recognizes the Convention against Torture. ›

1983

Democracy is restored in Argentina with the inauguration of President Raúl Alfonsín. ›

1979

Kaohsiung Incident: Taiwanese pro-democracy demonstrations are suppressed by the KMT dictatorship, and organizers are arrested. ›

1978

Arab–Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. ›

1968

Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved "300 million yen robbery", is carried out in Tokyo. ›

1963

Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy, under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah. ›

1963

An assassination attempt on the British High Commissioner in Aden kills two people and wounds dozens more. ›

1953

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill receives the Nobel Prize in Literature. ›

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. ›

1948

The Human Rights Convention is signed by the United Nations. ›

1942

World War II: Government of Poland in exile send Raczyński's Note (the first official report on the Holocaust) to 26 governments who signed the Declaration by United Nations. ›

1941

World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers near British Malaya. ›

1941

World War II: Battle of the Philippines: Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on Luzon. ›

1936

Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII signs the Instrument of Abdication. ›

1932

Thailand becomes a constitutional monarchy. ›

1909

Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first female writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. ›

1907

The worst night of the Brown Dog riots in London, when 1,000 medical students, protesting against the existence of a memorial for animals that have been vivisected, clash with 400 police officers. ›

1906

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize in any field. ›

1902

The opening of the reservoir of the Aswan Dam in Egypt. ›

1901

The first Nobel Prize ceremony is held in Stockholm on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. ›

1898

Spanish–American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict. Spain cedes administration of Cuba to the United States, and the United States agrees to pay Spain $20 million for the Philippines. ›

1896

Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi premieres in Paris. A riot breaks out at the end of the performance. ›

1877

Russo-Turkish War: The Russian Army captures Plevna after a 5-month siege. The garrison of 25,000 surviving Turks surrenders. The Russian victory is decisive for the outcome of the war and the Liberation of Bulgaria. ›

1864

American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union Army troops reach the outer Confederate defenses of Savannah, Georgia. ›

1861

American Civil War: The Confederate States of America accept a rival state government's pronouncement that declares Kentucky to be the 12th state of the Confederacy. ›

1861

Forces led by Nguyễn Trung Trực, an anti-colonial guerrilla leader in southern Vietnam, sink the French lorcha L'Esperance. ›

1817

Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state. ›

1799

France adopts the metre as its official unit of length. ›

1768

The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published. ›

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 Edmond Halley. ›

1665

The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps is founded by Michiel de Ruyter. ›

1652

Defeat at the Battle of Dungeness causes the Commonwealth of England to reform its navy. ›

1541

Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham are executed for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII. ›

1520

Martin Luther burns his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate. ›

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. ›

1317

The Nyköping Banquet: Birger, King of Sweden treacherously seizes his two brothers, dukes Valdemar and Erik, who are subsequently starved to death in the dungeon of Nyköping Castle. ›