✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 344th day of the year

December 10

A look at December 10 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Emily Dickinson and Ada Lovelace, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 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.

    President of the United
  2. 1963

    Zanzibar

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

    Semi-autonomous region of Tanzania
  3. 1953

    United Kingdom

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

    Country in northwestern Europe
  4. 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.

    1939–1945 global conflict
  5. 1932

    Thailand

    Thailand becomes a constitutional monarchy.

    Country in Southeast Asia
  6. 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.

    British political controversy, 1903–1910
  7. 1861

    Nguyễn Trung Trực

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

    Vietnamese militia organizer (1838–1868)
  8. 1817

    Mississippi

    Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state.

    U.S. state
  9. 1768

    Encyclopædia Britannica

    The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published.

    General knowledge encyclopaedia
  10. 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.

    English polymath (1642–1727)
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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), American stand-up comedian and voice actor
  • 2006Augusto Pinochet, Chilean general and dictator, 30th President of Chile
  • 1967Otis Redding, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1936Luigi Pirandello, Italian dramatist, novelist, and poet Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1896Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist and engineer, invented Dynamite and founded the Nobel Prize
  • 1865Leopold I of Belgium, King of the Belgians from 1831 to 1865

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

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