Date·Lore

On This Day · The 344th day of the year

December 10

December 10 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 1684 and 1992. 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.

♐ZodiacSagittarius ◈BirthstoneTurquoise ❀Birth flowerHolly

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on December 10?

December 10 is the 344th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1684 and 1992. Famous people born on December 10 include Emily Dickinson, Ada Lovelace and Melvil Dewey.

The shape of the day

December 10's record stretches 308 years, from 1684 to 1992. Its center of gravity is the 20th century, and politics and nation-building recur.

Sagittarius is the sign for December 10 — read more on the Sagittarius page, or see December's birthstone & birth flower.

Released on December 10

Movies, games, albums & shows

2025

  • Game Dogpile

2024

  • Game Ballionaire
  • Game MiSide
  • Game Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind
  • Game Fast Food Simulator

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1684

    Isaac Newton

    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.

  2. 1768

    Encyclopædia Britannica

    The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published.

  3. 1817

    Mississippi

    Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state.

  4. 1861

    Nguyễn Trung Trực

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

  5. 1907

    Brown Dog affair

    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.

  6. 1932

    Thailand

    Thailand becomes a constitutional monarchy.

  7. 1941

    World War II

    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.

  8. 1953

    United Kingdom

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

  9. 1963

    Zanzibar

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

  10. 1992

    Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan

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

Famous birthday twins

Born on December 10

Emily Dickinson

b. 1830

American poet

Ada Lovelace

b. 1815

English mathematician and computer scientist

Melvil Dewey

b. 1851

American librarian, created the Dewey Decimal System

Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis

b. 1891

English field marshal and politician, 17th Governor General of Canada

Adolf Loos

b. 1870

Austrian architect and theoretician

César Franck

b. 1822

Belgian organist and composer

Kenneth Branagh

b. 1960

British actor director, producer, and screenwriter

Nelly Sachs

b. 1891

German-Swedish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate

Deaths

  • 2025Jeff Garcia (comedian)
  • 2006Augusto Pinochet
  • 1967Otis Redding
  • 1936Luigi Pirandello
  • 1896Alfred Nobel
  • 1865Leopold I of Belgium

Holidays & observances

  • —Alfred Nobel Day or Nobeldagen (Sweden)
  • —Christian feast day: Behnam, Sarah, and the Forty Martyrs (Syriac Orthodox Church)
  • —Christian feast day: Eulalia of Mérida
  • —Christian feast day: Gregory III
  • —Christian feast day: Karl Barth (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • —Christian feast day: Polydore Plasden
  • —Christian feast day: Thomas Merton (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • —Christian feast day: Translation of the Holy House of Loreto

Historical facts, event summaries, and biographical lines above are adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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