October 10......

October 10 is the 283rd day of the year (284th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 82 days remaining in the year.

EVENTS

● 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, was decapitated by forces under Caliph Yazid I. This is commemorated by Shi'a Muslims as Aashurah.

● 732 - Battle of Tours: Near Poitiers, France, leader of the Franks, Charles Martel and his men, defeat a large army of Moors, stopping the Muslims from spreading into Western Europe. The governor of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, is killed during the battle.

● 1471 - Battle of Brunkeberg in Stockholm: Sten Sture the Elder, the Regent of Sweden, with help of farmers and miners, repels an attack by Christian I, King of Denmark.

● 1575 - Battle of Dormans: Catholic forces under Duke Henry of Guise defeated the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others.

● 1582 - Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

● 1631 - A Saxon army takes over Prague.

● 1780 - The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000-30,000 in the Caribbean.

● 1845 - In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors.

● 1860 - The original cornerstone of the University of the South was laid in Sewanee, Tennessee.

● 1868 - Carlos Céspedes issued the Grito de Yara from his plantation, La Demajagua, proclaiming Cuba's independence.

● 1877 - Lieutenant-Colonel George Armstrong Custer is given a funeral with full military honors.

● 1886 - The tuxedo dinner jacket made its American debut at the autumn ball in Tuxedo Park, NY.

● 1908 - Baseball Writers Association forms.

● 1910 - Tau Epsilon Phi Fraternity is established at Columbia University.

● 1911 – During the Wuchang Uprising instigated by revolutionaries under Sun Yat-sen which led to the demise of Qing (Manchu? NYT) Dynasty, the last Imperial court in China, and the founding of the Republic of China.

● 1911 - The KCR East Rail commenced service between Kowloon and Canton.

● 1913 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggered the explosion of the Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the Panama Canal.

● 1920 - The Carinthian Plebiscite determined that the larger part of Carinthia became part of Austria.

● 1933 - A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by sabotage while en route from Cleveland, Ohio to Chicago, the first such proven case in the history of commercial aviation.

● 1935 - George Gershwin's opera ''Porgy and Bess'' opened on Broadway.

● 1935 - A tornado destroyed the 160 metre tall wooden radio tower in Langenberg. As a result of this catastrophe, few wooden towers were constructed after this date.

● 1938 - The Blue Water Bridge opens, connecting Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario

● 1938 - World War II: The Munich Agreement cedes the Sudetenland to Germany.

● 1943 - Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China.

● 1944 - Holocaust: 800 Gypsy children are systematically murdered at Auschwitz death camp.

● 1954 - The Communist Party of Honduras is founded.

● 1957 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he was refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.

● 1963 - France cedes control of the Bizerte naval base to Tunisia.

● 1964 - The 1964 Summer Olympics XVIII open in Tokyo, Japan

● 1966 - Simon and Garfunkel release the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.

● 1967 - The Outer Space Treaty, signed on January 27 by more than sixty nations, enters into force.

● 1969 – Ulster's B Specials to be disbanded; The Northern Ireland Cabinet accepts the Hunt report recommendations to disarm the RUC and abolish the Ulster Special Constabulary.

● 1970 - Fiji became independent after nearly a century of British rule.

● 1970 - In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ (Quebec separatists) terrorist group.

● 1971 - Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, the London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

● 1973 - Vice President of the United States Spiro Agnew resigns after pleading no contest to federal income tax evasion. With his resignation, the Impeachment of Nixon could continue without the fear of Agnew taking his place.

● 1975 - Liz Taylor and Richard Burton remarry; Actors Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor secretly remarry in Africa only 16 months after getting divorced.

● 1978 - US President Jimmy Carter signs a bill into law that authorizes the minting of the Susan B. Anthony dollar.

● 1979 - The Pac-Man arcade game is released to the Japanese market by Namco.

● 1980 - Thatcher 'not for turning;' The prime minister makes a memorably defiant speech at her party's conference in Brighton.

● 1980 - Thousands feared dead in Algerian quake; Two earthquakes strike the northern Algerian city of El Asnam and up to 20,000 are thought to have died.

● 1985 - United States Navy F-14 fighter jets intercept an Egyptian plane carrying the “Achille Lauro” cruise ship hijackers and force it to land at a NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily where they are arrested.

● 1986 - An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale strikes San Salvador, El Salvador, killing an estimated 1,500 people.

● 1987 - Fiji becomes a republic.

● 1995 - South African President Nelson Mandela attends Genadendal.

● 1997 - The NHL's Carolina Hurricanes win their first-ever regular season game by defeating the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in Greensboro, North Carolina.

● 1997 - An Austral Airlines DC-9-32 crashes and explodes near Nuevo Berlin, Uruguay, killing 74.

● 1998 – A New York judge awarded $185,000 in damages to a white former prosecutor who was falsely accused by advisers to Tawana Brawley of taking part in the alleged rape of the black woman.

● 1999 – Millennium Wheel edges upwards; Thousands gather to watch the giant Ferris wheel become the latest landmark on the London skyline.

● 2002 – The House voted 296-133 to give President George W. Bush broad authority to use military force against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, with or without U.N. support.

● 2003 – Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh announced during his syndicated radio show that he was addicted to painkillers and was checking into a rehab center.

● 2004 – Actor Christopher Reeve, who became a quadriplegic after a May 1995 horse riding accident, died at age 52.

● 2005 - Angela Merkel struck a power-sharing deal that made her the first woman and politician from the ex-communist east to serve as Germany's chancellor.

BIRTHS

● 1678 - John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, Scottish soldier (d. 1743)

● 1684 - Jean-Antoine Watteau, French painter (d. 1721)

● 1700 - Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, French sculptor (d. 1759)

● 1731 - Henry Cavendish, British chemist (d. 1810)

● 1738 - Benjamin West, American painter (d. 1820)

● 1770 - Benjamin Wright, American civil engineer; directed construction of Erie Canal (d. 1842)

● 1780 - John Abercrombie, Scottish physician (d. 1844)

● 1813 - Giuseppe Verdi, in Le Roncole, Italy, Italian composer (d. 1901)

● 1819 - Heinrich Joseph Dominicus Denzinger, German theologian (d. 1883)

● 1825 - Paul Kruger, President of the Transvaal Republic (d. 1904)

● 1828 - Samuel J. Randall, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1890)

● 1830 - Queen Isabella II of Spain (d. 1904)

● 1834 - Aleksis Kivi, Finnish author (d. 1872)

● 1837 - Robert Gould Shaw, American Army officer (d. 1863)

● 1859 - Maurice Prendergast, American-born Canadian painter (d. 1924)

● 1861 - Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian explorer, Nobel laureate (d. 1930)

● 1863 - Louis Cyr, French Canadian strongman (d. 1912)

● 1870 - Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1953)

● 1885 - Walter Anderson, German folklorist (d. 1962)

● 1895 - Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Deva Gosvami Maharaja, Indian religious Guru (d. 1988)

● 1895 - Wolfram von Richthofen, German field marshal d. 1945)

● 1898 - Lilly Daché, French-born milliner (d. 1989)

● 1900 - Helen Hayes, American actress (d. 1993)

● 1901 – Frederick Douglass Patterson, American educator; president of Tuskegee Institute (1935-53) and founder of United Negro College Fund (d. 1988)

● 1901 - Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor (d. 1966)

● 1903 - Vernon Duke, American composer and songwriter (d. 1969)

● 1903 - Prince Charles of Belgium, Prince Regent of Belgium (d. 1983)

● 1906 - Paul Creston, American composer (d. 1985)

● 1906 - R.K. Narayan, Indian novelist (d. 2001)

● 1908 - Johnny Green, American songwriter, arranger and conductor (d. 1989)

● 1913 - Claude Simon, French writer, Nobel laureate (d. 2005)

● 1914 - Tommy Fine, American baseball player (d. 2005)

● 1914 - Ivory Joe Hunter, American R&B singer (d. 1974)

● 1917 - Thelonious Monk, world-renowned American jazz pianist and composer (d. 1982)

● 1923 - Nicholas Parsons, English actor

● 1924 - James Clavell, Australian author (d. 1994)

● 1924 - Ed Wood, American filmmaker (d. 1978)

● 1924 - Ludmilla Tchérina, ballet dancer and actress (d. 2004)

● 1926 - Richard Jaeckel, American actor (d. 1997)

● 1930 - Mustafa Zaidi, Pakistani poet (d. 1970)

● 1930 - Yves Chauvin, French chemist, Nobel laureate

● 1930 - Harold Pinter, English playwright, Nobel laureate

● 1932 - Harry Smith, English footballer

● 1933 - Jay Sebring, American hair stylist (d. 1969)

● 1938 - Moriyama Daido, Japanese photographer

● 1942 - Peter Coyote, American actor

● 1946 - Charles Dance, English actor

● 1946 - Naoto Kan, Japanese politician

● 1946 - John Prine, American singer

● 1946 - Chris Tarrant, British television host

● 1946 - Ben Vereen, American actor and dancer

● 1946 - Peter Mahovlich, National Hockey League player

● 1947 - Martin Ruane, professional wrestler (d. 1998)

● 1948 - Cyril Neville, Rock singer-musician (The Neville Brothers)

● 1948 - Séverine, French singer

● 1949 – Jessica Harper, Actress

● 1951 - Ratu Epeli Ganilau, Fiji statesman

● 1953 - Midge Ure, Scottish musician

● 1953 - Gus Williams, American basketball player

● 1953 - David Lee Roth, American singer

● 1956 - Amanda Burton, Northern Irish actress

● 1957 - Rumiko Takahashi, Japanese artist

● 1958 - Tanya Tucker, American singer

● 1959 - Julia Sweeney, Actress-comedian (''Saturday Night Live'')

● 1959 - Bradley Whitford, American actor (''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,'' ''The West Wing'')

● 1959 - Kirsty MacColl, British singer (d. 2000)

● 1960 - Eric Martin, American singer

● 1961 - Jodi Benson, American voice actress

● 1961 – Martin Kemp, Rock musician (Spandau Ballet)

● 1963 - Anita Mui, Hong Kong singer (d. 2003)

● 1963 - Daniel Pearl, American journalist (d. 2002)

● 1963 - Jolanda de Rover, Dutch swimmer

● 1963 - Vegard Ulvang, Norwegian cross-country skier

● 1963 - Jim Glennie, Rock musician (James)

● 1963(65? NYT) - Rebecca Pidgeon, American actress

● 1965 - Chris Penn, American actor (d. 2006)

● 1965 - Toshi, Japanese singer (X Japan)

● 1966 - Tony Adams, English footballer

● 1967 – Mike Malinin, Rock musician (Goo Goo Dolls)

● 1968 - Bart Brentjens, Dutch mountain biker

● 1969 - Brett Favre, American football player

● 1970 - Dean Kiely, Irish footballer

● 1970 - Corinna May, German singer

● 1970 - Sir Matthew Pinsent, English rower

● 1970 - Maja Tatic, Serbian singer

● 1971 - Ian Bennett, English footballer

● 1971 - Evgeny Kissin, Russian pianist

● 1972 - Alexei Zhitnik, Russian ice hockey player

● 1973 - Mario López, American actor

● 1973 - Semmy Schilt, Dutch kickboxer

● 1974 - Dale Earnhardt Jr., American race car driver

● 1974 - Julio Ricardo Cruz, Argentinian footballer

● 1974 - Chris Pronger, National Hockey League player

● 1976 - Bob Burnquist, Brazilian-born skateboarder

● 1976 - Pat Burrell, American baseball player

● 1978 - Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, American actress

● 1979 - Nicolás Massú, Chilean tennis player

● 1979 - Mya, R&B singer

● 1980 - Tim Maurer, American singer (Suburban Legends)

● 1980 - Elvis Hammond, Ghanaian footballer

● 1981 - Mya Harrison,American singer

● 1983 - Vusimuzi Sibanda, Zimbabwean cricketer

● 1982 - Amon Buchanan, Australian footballer

● 1982 - Dan Stevens, English actor

● 1984 - Stephanie Cheng, Hong Kong singer

● 1984 - Chiaki Kuriyama, Japanese actress

● 1984 - Cherie, R&B singer

● 1985 - Layke Anderson, British actor

● 1985 - Dominique Cornu, Belgian professional cyclist

DEATHS

● 19 - Germanicus, Roman general (b. 15 BC)

● 732 - Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, Moorish Governor of Andalusia

● 833 - al-Ma'mun, Abbasid caliph of Baghdad (b. 786)

● 1359 - King Hugh IV of Cyprus

● 1459 - Gianfrancesco Poggio Bracciolini, Italian humanist and classicist (b. 1380)

● 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss reformer (killed in battle) (b. 1484)

● 1659 - Abel Tasman, Dutch explorer (b. 1603)

● 1674 - Thomas Traherne, English poet

● 1691 - Isaac de Benserade, French poet (b. 1613)

● 1708 - David Gregory, Scottish astronomer (b. 1659)

● 1714 - Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert, French economist (b. 1646)

● 1720 - Antoine Coysevox, French sculptor (b. 1640)

● 1723 - William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper, Lord Chancellor of England

● 1725 - Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil, Governor-General of New France

● 1747 - John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury

● 1759 - Granville Elliott, British military officer (b. 1713)

● 1765 - Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1688)

● 1795 - Francesco Antonio Zaccaria, Italian theologian and historian (b. 1714)

● 1806 - Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, German prince (b. 1772)

● 1827 - Ugo Foscolo, Italian writer (b. 1778)

● 1837 - Charles Fourier, French philosopher (b. 1772)

● 1872 - William H. Seward, United States Secretary of State (b. 1801)

● 1875 - Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Russian novelist, poet and dramatist (b. 1817)

● 1876 - Charles Joseph Sainte-Claire Deville, French geologist (b. 1814)

● 1893 - Lip Pike, baseball player (b. 1845)

● 1901 - Lorenzo Snow, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1814)

● 1913 - Katsura Taro, Prime minister of Japan (b. 1848)

● 1914 - Charles I of Romania (b. 1839)

● 1927 - Gustave Whitehead, German-born inventor (b. 1874)

● 1930 - Adolf Engler, German botanist (b. 1844)

● 1939 - Eleanor Rigby

● 1940 - Berton Churchill, Canadian actor (b. 1876)

● 1964 - Eddie Cantor, American singer and vaudeville performer (b. 1892)

● 1964 - Heinrich Neuhaus, Soviet pianist (b. 1888)

● 1970 - Édouard Daladier, French politician (b. 1884)

● 1971 - John Cawte Beaglehole, New Zealand historian (b. 1901)

● 1978 - Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete (b. 1910)

● 1979 - Christopher Evans, British psychologist and computer scientist (b. 1931)

● 1979 - Paul Paray, French conductor (b. 1886)

● 1983 - Ralph Richardson, English actor (b. 1902)

● 1985 - Yul Brynner, Russian-born actor (b. 1915)

● 1985 - Orson Welles, American trail blazing director and actor (b. 1915)

● 1986 - Gleb Wataghin, Ukrainian-Italian physicist (b. 1899)

● 1998 - Clark Clifford, United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1906)

● 2000 - Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (b. 1916)

● 2002 - Teresa Graves, American actress and singer (b. 1948)

● 2003 - Eugene Istomin, American pianist (b. 1925)

● 2004 - Ken Caminiti, baseball player (heart attack) (b. 1963)

● 2004 - Christopher Reeve, American actor, who became a quadriplegic after a May 1995 horse riding accident (b. 1952)

● 2004 - Arthur H. Robinson, American cartographer (b. 1915)

● 2004 - Maurice Shadbolt, New Zealand writer (b. 1932)

● 2005 - Wayne Booth, American literary critic (b. 1921)

● 2005 - Milton Obote, President of Uganda (b. 1925)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic Saints
● Saint Thomas of Villanueva
● Saint Paulinus of York (in England)

● Republic of China (on Taiwan) - National Day (Double Tenth Day 雙十國慶)

● Fiji - Fiji Day (National Day)

● Japan - National Health-Sports Day

● World Mental Health Day

● Old Michelmas - Celtic holiday

● French Republican Calendar - Tournesol (Sunflower) Day, nineteenth day in the Month of Vendémiaire


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

The BBC Take on the day

On this day in the New York Times