Today May 10th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
1291 – Scottish nobles recognize the authority of Edward I of England.
1497 – Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World.
1503 – Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles there.
1534 – Jacques Cartier visits Newfoundland.
1655 – England, with troops under the command of Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables, annexes Jamaica from Spain.
1768 – John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for The North Briton severely criticizing King George III. This action provokes rioting in London.
1774 – Louis XVI becomes King of France.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Fort Ticonderoga is taken by a small force led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Representatives from the 13 colonies of the United States meet in Philadelphia and raise the Continental Army to defend the new republic. They place it under command of George Washington of Virginia.
1796 – First Coalition: Napoleon I of France wins a decisive victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the Adda River in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men.
1801 – First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America.
1824 – The National Gallery in London opens to the public.
1837 – Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
1857 – Indian Mutiny: In India, the first war of Independence begins. Sepoys revolt against their commanding officers at Meerut.
1863 – Confederate General Stonewall Jackson dies eight days after he is accidentally shot by his own troops during the American Civil War.
1864 – American Civil War: Colonel Emory Upton leads a 10-regiment Attack-in-depth assault against the Confederate works at The Battle of Spotsylvania, which, though ultimately unsuccessful, would provide the idea for the massive assault against the Bloody Angle on May 12. Upton was wounded slightly but immediately is promoted to Brigadier general.
1865 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia.
1865 – American Civil War: Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate raider William Quantrill in Kentucky, who lingers until his death on June 6.
1869 – The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah (not Promontory Point, Utah) with the golden spike.
1872 – Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States.
1877 – Romania declares itself independent from Turkey, following the Senate adoption of Mihail Kogalniceanu s Declaration of Independence. This act is recognized on March 26, 1881 after the end of the Romanian War of Independence.
1893 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883.
1908 – Mother s Day is observed for the first time in the United States, in Grafton, West Virginia.
1922 – The United States annexes the Kingman Reef.
1924 – J. Edgar Hoover is appointed the Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and remains so until his death in 1972.
1933 – Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings.
1940 – World War II: The first German bombs of the war fall on England at Chilham and Petham, in Kent.
1940 – World War II: Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
1940 – World War II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1940 – World War II: Invasion of Iceland by the United Kingdom.
1941 – World War II: The House of Commons in London is damaged by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.
1941 – World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland in order to try and negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Germany.
1942 – World War II: The Thai Phayap Army invades the Shan States during the Burma Campaign.
1946 – First successful launch of a V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground.
1954 – Bill Haley & His Comets release Rock Around the Clock, the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts.
1960 – The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.
1969 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Ap Bia begins with an assault on Hill 937. It will ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill.
1970 – The Boston Bruins win their first Stanley Cup since 1941 when Bobby Orr makes an overtime winning goal followed by a leap in the air that would become one of the most famous photographs in hockey – (The Goal).
1979 – The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing.
1981 – François Mitterrand takes office as the first Socialist President of France.
1993 – In Thailand, a fire at the Kader Toy Factory kills 188 workers, mostly young women.
1994 – Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa s first black president.
1996 – Excel Communications, Inc. becomes the youngest company ever to join the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), trading under the symbol (ECI).
1996 – A rogue storm near the summit of Mount Everest kills eight climbers, making this the deadliest day in the mountain s history. Among the dead are experienced climbers Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, both of whom were leading paid expeditions to the summit.
1997 – Pope John Paul II visits Lebanon.
2001 – In Ghana, a stampede at a football game kills over 120 spectators.
2002 – F.B.I. agent Robert Hanssen is given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for selling United States secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
2003 – The May 2003 tornado outbreak sequence takes place.
2005 – A hand grenade which was thrown by Vladimir Arutinian lands about 65 feet (20 metres) from U.S. President George W. Bush while he was giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctions and does not detonate.
Births
1265 – Emperor Fushimi of Japan (d. 1317)
1604 – Jean Mairet, French dramatist (d. 1686)
1641 – Dudley North, English economist (d. 1691)
1727 – Anne Robert Turgot, French statesman (d. 1781)
1746 – Gaspard Monge, French mathematician (d. 1818)
1760 – Johann Peter Hebel, German poet (d. 1826)
1760 – Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, French composer (La Marseillaise) (d. 1836)
1770 – Louis Nicolas Davout, French marshal (d. 1823)
1775 – Antoine Charles Louis Lasalle, French cavalry general (d. 1809)
1775 – Robert Gray, Sea Captain (d. 1806)
1788 – Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist (d. 1827)
1788 – Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, German queen (d. 1819)
1810 – Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, British lexicographer (d. 1897)
1813 – Montgomery Blair, American politician (d. 1883)
1838 – John Wilkes Booth, American actor and assassin of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1865)
1840 – Hadzhi Dimitar, Bulgarian revolutionist (d. 1868)
1841 – James Gordon Bennett Jr., American publisher (d. 1918)
1843 – Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish novelist (d. 1920)
1847 – Wilhelm Killing, German mathematician (d. 1923)
1863 – Upendrakishore Ray, Indian writer, painter and composer (d. 1915)
1866 – Léon Bakst, Russian artist (d. 1924)
1868 – Ed Barrow, American baseball manager (d. 1953)
1872 – Marcel Mauss, French sociologist (d. 1950)
1874 – Moses Schorr, Polish rabbi, senator, historian and orientalist (d. 1941)
1876 – Ivan Cankar, Slovenian writer (d. 1918)
1878 – Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1929)
1879 – Symon Petlura, Ukrainian statesman (d. 1926)
1886 – Karl Barth, Swiss Protestant theologian (d. 1968)
1886 – Olaf Stapledon, British author and philosopher (d. 1950)
1886 – Felix Manalo, Founder and 1st Executive Minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo (d. 1963)
1888 – Max Steiner, Austrian composer (d. 1971)
1889 – Mae Murray, American actress (d. 1965)
1890 – Alfred Jodl, German general (d. 1946)
1897 – Einar Gerhardsen, Prime minister of Norway (d. 1987)
1898 – Ariel Durant, American historian (d. 1981)
1899 – Fred Astaire, American dancer and actor (d. 1987)
1899 – Dimitri Tiomkin, Ukrainian-born composer (d. 1979)
1902 – Anatole Litvak, Ukrainian-born film director (d. 1974)
1902 – David O. Selznick, American film producer (d. 1965)
1903 – Otto Bradfisch, Nazi leader (d. 1994)
1905 – Markos Vamvakaris, Greek rebetiko musician and songwriter (d. 1972)
1909 – Maybelle Carter, American musician (d. 1978)
1911 – Bel Kaufman, American author
1915 – Denis Thatcher, British businessman and husband of Margaret Thatcher (d. 2003)
1916 – Milton Babbitt, American composer
1918 – George Welch, American pilot (d. 1954)
1922 – Nancy Walker, American actress (d. 1992)
1923 – Heydar Aliyev, Ex-President and Leader of Azerbaijan Republic (d. 2003)
1923 – Clifford Wilson, Australian archaeologist, educator, academician, author
1926 – Hugo Banzer, Bolivian dictator (d. 2002)
1927 – Nayantara Sahgal, Indian author
1928 – Arnold Rüütel, Estonian president
1929 – Antonine Maillet, French Canadian novelist and playwright
1930 – Pat Summerall, American football player and broadcaster
1930 – Scott Muni, American radio DJ (d. 2004)
1931 – Ettore Scola, Italian director and screenwriter
1933 – Barbara Taylor Bradford, English writer
1934 – Cliff Wilson, Welsh snooker player (d. 1994)
1934 – Jeanine Basinger, American film scholar
1935 – Larry Williams, American singer and songwriter (d. 1980)
1936 – Gary Owens, American actor and announcer
1937 – Tamara Press, Soviet athlete
1937 – Jim Hickman, American baseball player
1938 – Jean Becker, French director, screenwriter and actor
1938 – Marina Vlady, French actress
1940 – Wayne A. Downing, retired United States Army general
1942 – Youssouf Sambo Bâ, Burkinabé politician
1943 – David Clennon, American actor
1943 – Richard Darman, American economist
1944 – Jim Abrahams, American film director
1944 – Maureen Lipman, English actress
1944 – Marie-France Pisier, French actress
1946 – Donovan, Scottish musician
1946 – Graham Gouldman, British musician and songwriter (10cc)
1946 – Dave Mason, English musician (Traffic)
1946 – Diderik Wagenaar, Dutch composer and musical theorist
1947 – Caroline Cooney, American author
1947 – Jay Ferguson, American musician and composer
1947 – Thomas Tessier, American author
1952 – Kikki Danielsson, Swedish singer
1953 – John Diamond, English journalist (d. 2001)
1953 – Tito Santana, Mexican-American professional wrestler
1954 – F. Charles Brunicardi, American surgeon
1955 – Chris Berman, American sportscaster
1955 – Mark David Chapman, American assassin of John Lennon
1956 – Vladislav Listyev, Russian television anchor and journalist (d. 1995)
1957 – Sid Vicious, English bassist (The Sex Pistols) (d. 1979)
1958 – Rick Santorum, U.S. Senator
1958 – Yu Suzuki, Japanese creator of Virtua Fighter series
1958 – Gaétan Boucher, Canadian speed skater
1959 – Victoria Rowell, American actress
1959 – Danny Schayes, American basketball player
1960 – Bono, Irish singer (U2)
1961 – Danny Carey, American drummer (Tool, Pigmy Love Circus)
1961 – Johanna ter Steege, Dutch actress
1962 – Brad Soderberg, American college basketball head coach
1963 – Lisa Nowak, American astronaut
1965 – Linda Evangelista, Canadian supermodel
1966 – Jonathan Edwards, English athlete
1967 – Scott Brison, Canadian politician
1967 – Jon Ronson, British journalist and author
1967 – Nobuhiro Takeda, Japanese footballer and sportscaster
1967 – Young MC, American rapper
1968 – Erik Palladino, American actor
1968 – Ed Sanders, British actor and television personality
1968 – Al Murray, British comedian
1968 – Darren Matthews, English professional wrestler
1969 – Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch footballer
1969 – John Scalzi, American writer
1970 – Perry Blake, Irish singer/songwriter
1970 – Dallas Roberts, American actor
1970 – David Weir, Scottish footballer
1971 – Adriano Giannini, Italian actor
1971 – Ådne Søndrål, Norwegian speed skater
1972 – Radoslaw Majdan, Polish footballer
1973 – Craig Mack, American rapper
1973 – Jerome Williams, American basketball player
1973 – Joshua Eagle, Australian tennis player
1973 – Aviv Geffen, Israeli singer/songwriter (Blackfield)
1974 – Sylvain Wiltord, French footballer
1975 – Hélio Castroneves, Brazilian race car driver
1975 – Adam Deadmarsh, American ice hockey player
1976 – Stuart Braithwaite, Scottish musician (Mogwai)
1976 – Rob Malda, American internet writer/editor (Slashdot)
1976 – Udo Mechels, Belgian singer
1976 – Aggeliki Tsiolakoudi, Greek javelin thrower
1977 – Henri Camara, Senegalese footballer
1977 – Nick Heidfeld, German Formula 1 driver
1977 – Denise Ho, Hong Kong singer
1977 – Chas Licciardello, Australian comedian, member of The Chaser
1977 – Keith Murray, American singer (We Are Scientists)
1978 – Kenan Thompson, American actor
1979 – Namitha Kapoor, South Indian actress
1979 – Lee Hyori, South Korean singer
1981 – Humberto Suazo, Chilean footballer
1982 – Despina Caldis, Greek-Australian actress
1982 – Jeremy Gable, American playwright
1982 – Daniel Harris, Australian rules footballer
1983 – Gustav Fridolin, Swedish politician
1983 – Natalia Zabala, Miss Spain 2007
1984 – Edward Mujica. Venezuelan baseball player
1985 – Ryan Getzlaf, Canadian ice hockey player
1987 – Anej Lovrecic, Slovenian football (soccer) player
1989 – Lindsey Shaw, American actress
1992 – Charice Pempengco, Filipino singer
1993 – Mirai Shida, Japanese actress
2000 – Shyann McClure, American actress and model
Deaths
1034 – Mieszko II of Poland (b. 990)
1290 – Duke Rudolph II of Austria (b. 1271)
1424 – Go-Kameyama, Emperor of Japan
1482 – Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1397)
1493 – Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll, Scottish politician
1521 – Sebastian Brant, Alsatian humanist (b. 1457)
1566 – Leonhart Fuchs, German botanist (b. 1501)
1641 – Johan Banér, Swedish soldier (b. 1596)
1657 – Gustaf Horn, Swedish soldier and politician (b. 1592)
1691 – Colonel John Birch, English soldier (b. 1615)
1696 – Jean de La Bruyère, French writer (b. 1645)
1717 – John Hathorne, American magistrate (b. 1641)
1726 – Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, English soldier (b. 1670)
1733 – Barton Booth, English actor (b. 1681)
1737 – Nakamikado Emperor of Japan (b. 1702)
1774 – King Louis XV of France (b. 1710)
1787 – William Watson, English physician and scientist (b. 1715)
1792 – John Stevens, American delegate to the Continental Congress
1807 – Comte de Rochambeau, French soldier (b. 1725)
1818 – Paul Revere, American patriot (b. 1735)
1829 – Thomas Young, English physician and linguist (b. 1773)
1850 – Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist and physicist (b. 1778)
1863 – Stonewall Jackson, American Confederate general (b. 1824)
1868 – Henry Bennett, American politician (b. 1808)
1889 – Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian satirist (b. 1826)
1897 – Andrés Bonifacio, Filipino revolutionary leader (b. 1863)
1904 – Andrei Ryabushkin, Russian painter (b. 1861)
1937 – William Tedmarsh, silent movie actor (b. 1876)
1945 – Richard Glücks, German SS officer (b. 1889)
1950 – Belle da Costa Greene, librarian, bibliographer, archivist (b. 1883)
1955 – Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer (b. 1881)
1955 – John Radecki, Australian stained glass artist (b. 1865)
1960 – Yury Olesha, Russian novelist (b. 1899)
1963 – Gene Big Daddy Lipscomb, American football player (b. 1931)
1964 – Mikhail Larionov, Russian painter (b. 1881)
1967 – Lorenzo Bandini, Italian racing driver, (b. 1935)
1968 – Scotty Beckett, American child actor (b. 1929)
1974 – Hal Mohr, Cinematographer, Husband of Evelyn Venable (b. 1894)
1976 – Elias Aslaksen, Leader of Brunstad Christian Church (b. 1888)
1977 – Joan Crawford, American actress (b. 1905)
1982 – Peter Weiss, German writer and artist (b. 1916)
1988 – Shen Congwen, Chinese writer (b. 1902)
1989 – Woody Shaw, American jazz musician (b. 1944)
1990 – Walker Percy, American author (b. 1916)
1990 – Susan Oliver, American actress (b. 1922)
1992 – Sylvia Syms, American jazz singer (b. 1917)
1994 – John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (executed) (b. 1942)
1997 – Joan Weston, Roller Derby Queen (b. 1935)
1999 – Shel Silverstein, American poet and composer (b. 1930)
2000 – Dédé Fortin, Quebec singer and songwriter (Les Colocs) (b. 1962)
2000 – Jules Deschênes, Quebec superior court judge (b. 1923)
2001 – Deborah Walley, American actress (b. 1943)
2002 – Lynda Lyon Block, convicted murderer (b. 1948)
2002 – Yves Robert, French actor, screenwriter and director (b. 1920)
2003 – Milan Vukcevich, Yugoslavian chemist and chess problem composer (b. 1937)
2005 – David Wayne, American singer (Metal Church) (b. 1958)
2006 – Raizo Matsuno, Japanese politician (b. 1917)
2006 – A. M. Rosenthal, American newspaper editor (b. 1922)
2006 – Soraya, Colombian-American singer (b. 1969)
2006 – Val Guest, British film director (b. 1911)
2008 – Leyla Gencer, Turkish soprano (b. 1928)
2008 – Jessie Jacobs, Australian Actress (b. 1990)
Holidays and observances
Confederate Memorial Day in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Constitution Day in the Federated States of Micronesia.
Mother s Day in much of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico.
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