Today August 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
612 BC – Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire. Destruction of Nineveh.
610 – In Islam, the traditional date of the Laylat al-Qadr, when Muhammad began to receive the Qur an.
955 – Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeats Magyars, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West.
991 – Battle of Maldon: English, led by Bryhtnoth, confront a band of inland-raiding Vikings near Maldon in Essex. The English are defeated and the story is immortalised in a well-known poem.
1316 – Second Battle of Athenry
1519 – Ferdinand Magellan s five ships set sail from Seville to circumnavigate the globe.
1557 – Battle of St. Quentin Spanish victory over the French in the Habsburg-Valois Wars
1628 – The Swedish warship Vasa sinks in the Stockholm harbour after only about 20 minutes on her maiden voyage.
1675 – The foundation stone of the Royal Greenwich Observatory in London is laid.
1680 – The Pueblo Revolt begins in New Mexico.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: word of the United States Declaration of Independence reaches London.
1792 – French Revolution: Storming of the Tuileries Palace. Louis XVI of France is arrested and taken into custody.
1809 – Quito, now the capital of Ecuador, declares independence from Spain.
1821 – Missouri is admitted as the 24th U.S. state.
1829 – First ascent of Finsteraarhorn, the highest summit of the Bernese Alps.
1846 – The Smithsonian Institution is chartered by the U.S. Congress after $500,000 was given for such a purpose by scientist James Smithson.
1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Wilson s Creek – the war enters Missouri when a band of raw Confederate troops defeat Union forces in the southwestern part of the state.
1901 – The U.S. Steel Recognition Strike by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers begins.
1904 – Russo-Japanese War: the Battle of the Yellow Sea between the Russian and Japanese battleship fleets.
1905 – Russo-Japanese War: Russian and Japanese peace negotiations begin in Portsmouth.
1913 – Second Balkan War ends: delegates from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece sign the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the war.
1920 – World War I: Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI s representatives sign the Treaty of Sèvres which divides up the Ottoman Empire between the Allies.
1932 – A 5.1-kg (11.2-pound) chondrite-type meteorite breaks into at least seven pieces and lands near the town of Archie in Cass County, Missouri.
1944 – World War II: American forces defeat the last Japanese troops on Guam.
1948 – Candid Camera makes its television debut after being on radio for a year as Candid Microphone.
1949 – US President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act Amendment, streamlining the defense agencies of the United States government, and replacing the National Military Establishment with the United States Department of Defense.
1954 – At Massena, New York, the groundbreaking ceremony for the St. Lawrence Seaway is held.
1969 – A day after murdering Sharon Tate and four others, members of Charles Manson s cult kill Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.
1971 – The Society for American Baseball Research is founded in Cooperstown, New York.
1977 – In Yonkers, New York, 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) is arrested for a series of killings in the New York City area over the period of one year.
1981 – The head of John Walsh s son Adam is found in Hollywood, Florida. This event will later prompt the U.S. Congress to pass the Missing Children s Act to give the Federal Bureau of Investigation greater authority to track the disappearance of children, as well as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It also makes Walsh a national spokesman against crime and eventually leads to the establishment of the FOX Network television series America s Most Wanted.
1988 – Japanese American Internment: US President Ronald Reagan signs the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, providing $20,000 payments to Japanese-Americans who were either interned in or relocated by the United States during World War II.
1990 – The Magellan space probe reaches Venus.
1990 – The Massacre of more than 127 Muslims in North East Sri Lanka by paramilitaries.
1993 – An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale hits the South Island of New Zealand.
1995 – Oklahoma City bombing: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols are indicted for the bombing. Michael Fortier pleads guilty in a plea-bargain agreement for his testimony.
1995 – Los Angeles Dodgers are forced to forfeit against the St. Louis Cardinals after fans throw souvenir baseballs on to the field en masse.
1998 – The Royal Proclamation of HRH Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah as the Crown Prince of Brunei.
2003 – The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK – 38.5°C (101.3°F) in Kent [1]. It is the first time the UK has recorded a temperature over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
2003 – Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko becomes the first person to marry in space.
2006 – Scotland Yard disrupts major terrorist plot to destroy aircraft travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States. All toiletries are banned from commercial airplanes.
Births
1267 – King James II of Aragon (d. 1327)
1296 – John I, Count of Luxemburg (d. 1346)
1360 – Francesco Zabarella, Italian jurist (d. 1417)
1397 – Albert II of Germany, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1439)
1489 – Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck, German statesman and reformer (d. 1553)
1520 – Madeleine of Valois, wife of James V of Scotland (d. 1537)
1560 – Hieronymus Praetorius, German composer (d. 1629)
1602 – Gilles de Roberval, French mathematician (d. 1675)
1645 – Eusebio Kino, Italian Catholic missionary (d. 1711)
1737 – Anton Losenko, Russian painter (d. 1773)
1744 – Alexandrine-Jeanne d Étiolles (nicknamed Fanfan), daughter of the courtesan Madame de Pompadour (d. 1754)
1810 – Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia (d. 1861)
1814 – Henri Nestlé, Swiss industrialist (d. 1890)
1821 – Jay Cooke, American financier (d. 1905)
1823 – Hugh Stowell Brown, Manx preacher (d. 1886)
1839 – Aleksandr Grigorievich Stoletov, Russian physicist (d. 1896)
1845 – Abai Kunanbaev, Kazakh poet (d. 1904)
1856 – William Willett, English inventor of Daylight Saving Time (d. 1915)
1860 – Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande, Indian musician (d. 1936)
1865 – Alexander Glazunov, Russian composer (d. 1936)
1869 – Laurence Binyon, British poet (d. 1943)
1874 – Herbert Clark Hoover, 31st President of the United States (d. 1964)
1874 – Bill Johnson, American musician (d. 1972)
1877 – Frank Marshall, American chess player (d. 1944)
1878 – Alfred Döblin, German writer (d. 1957)
1880 – Robert L. Thornton, American businessman, philanthropist, and Mayor of Dallas, Texas (d. 1964)
1884 – Panait Istrati, Romanian writer (d. 1935)
1889 – Charles Darrow, Inventor (d. 1967)
1890 – Angus L. MacDonald, Canadian politician (d. 1954)
1894 – Varahagiri Venkata Giri, Fourth President of India (d. 1980)
1895 – Hammy Love, Former Australian cricketer (d. 1969)
1897 – John Galbreath, American businessman (d. 1988)
1898 – Jack Haley, American actor (d. 1979)
1900 – Arthur Espie Porritt, New Zealand politician and athlete (d. 1994)
1902 – Norma Shearer, Canadian actress (d. 1983)
1902 – Curt Siodmak, German-born author (d. 2000)
1902 – Arne Tiselius, Swedish chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1971)
1903 – Ward Moore, American author (d. 1978)
1905 – Era Bell Thompson, American journalist (d. 1986)
1908 – Adelino (Billy) Gonsalves, American soccer player (d. 1977)
1909 – Leo Fender, American luthier (d. 1991)
1911 – A. N. Sherwin-White, English historian (d. 1993)
1912 – Jorge Amado, Brazilian novelist (d. 2001)
1913 – Wolfgang Paul, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1993)
1913 – Noah Beery, Jr., American actor (d. 1994)
1914 – Jeff Corey, American actor (d. 2002)
1914 – Carlos Menditeguy, Argentine racing driver (d. 1973)
1919 – Sacha Vierny, French cinematographer (d. 2001)
1920 – Red Holzman, American head coach (d. 1998)
1923 – Rhonda Fleming, American actress
1923 – Fred Ridgway, Former England cricketer
1924 – Martha Hyer, American actress
1927 – Vernon Washington, American actor (d. 1988)
1928 – Jimmy Dean, American singer
1928 – Gus Mercurio, American-born Australian actor
1928 – Eddie Fisher, American singer
1933 – Doyle Brunson, American poker player
1933 – Rocky Colavito, American baseball player
1933 – Keith Duckworth, English mechanical engineer (Cosworth (d. 2005)
1937 – Anatoly Sobchak, Russian politician
1939 – Kate O Mara, British actress
1940 – Bobby Hatfield, American singer (Righteous Brothers) (d. 2003)
1940 – Sid Waddell, Darts Commentator for the PDC
1942 – Betsey Johnson, American fashion designer
1943 – Ronnie Spector, American singer (Ronettes)
1943 – Louise Forestier, French Canadian singer, songwriter and actress
1943 – Jimmy Griffin, American guitarist (Bread) (d. 2005)
1943 – Michael Mantler, American trumpeter and composer
1943 – Shafqat Rana, Former Pakistani cricketer
1945 – Harriet Miers, White House counsel
1947 – Ian Anderson, Scottish musician (Jethro Tull)
1947 – Anwar Ibrahim, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
1947 – Alan Ward, Former England cricketer
1948 – Patti Austin, American singer
1950 – Rémy Girard, Canadian actor
1952 – Daniel Hugh Kelly, American actor
1952 – Diane Venora, American actress
1953 – Mark Doty, American poet and prose writer
1956 – Fred Ottman, American wrestler
1956 – Charlie Peacock, American record producer, singer-songwriter
1958 – Jack Richards, Former England cricketer
1959 – Rosanna Arquette, American actress
1959 – Florent Vollant, Innu-Canadian musician (Kashtin)
1960 – Antonio Banderas, Spanish actor
1960 – Nicoletta Braschi, Italian actress
1960 – Todd David Hess, First USAF Member inducted into Army s Order of Military Medical Merit.
1960 – Kenny Perry, American golfer
1961 – Jon Farriss, Australian musician (INXS)
1963 – Andrew Sullivan, English-born journalist
1963 – Phoolan Devi, Indian bandit and revolutionary (d. 2001)
1964 – Aaron Hall, American songwriter
1965 – Claudia Christian, American actress
1965 – Mike E. Smith, American jockey
1965 – John Starks, American basketball player
1966 – Hansi Kürsch, German singer
1967 – Philippe Albert, Belgian former footballer
1967 – Riddick Bowe, American boxer
1967 – Mart Sander, Estonian singer and actor
1967 – Reinout Scholte, Former Dutch cricketer
1967 – Lorraine Pearson, former singer (Five Star) and author
1968 – Michael Bivins, American singer (New Edition & Bell Biv DeVoe)
1968 – Greg Hawgood, Canadian ice hockey player
1968 – Peter Docter, American film director
1969 – Emily Symons, Australian actress
1970 – Bret Hedican, American ice hockey player
1970 – Jeff Mangum, American musician
1970 – Steve Mautone, Australian footballer
1970 – Brendon Julian, Former Australian cricketer
1971 – Roy Keane, Irish footballer
1971 – Mario César Kindelán Mesa, Cuban boxer
1971 – Justin Theroux, American actor
1971 – Sal Fasano, American baseball player
1971 – Kevin Randleman, American mixed martial artist
1971 – Stephan Groth, Norwegian musician
1972 – Lawrence Dallaglio, English rugby union footballer
1972 – Angie Harmon, American model and actress
1972 – Christofer Johnsson, Swedish musician
1973 – Lisa Raymond, American tennis player
1973 – Javier Zanetti, Argentinian footballer
1974 – David Sommeil, French footballer
1974 – Rachel Simmons, American feminist and author
1974 – Luis Marín, Costa Rican footballer
1976 – Michael Depoli, American wrestler
1977 – Danny Griffin, Northern Irish footballer
1977 – Aaron Kamin, American musician (The Calling)
1977 – Matt Morgan, British comedian
1978 – Daniel Allsopp, Australian footballer
1978 – Chris Read, English cricketer
1978 – Claire Yiu, Hong Kong actress
1979 – Yannick Schroeder, French racing driver
1979 – Joanna Garcia, Cuban actress
1979 – Ted Geoghegan, American filmmaker and author
1979 – Dinusha Fernando, Sri Lankan cricketer
1980 – Kaysar Ridha, Iraqi-American reality TV contestant
1981 – Natsumi Abe, Japanese singer
1981 – Malek Mouath,Saudi Arabian footballer
1981 – Taufik Hidayat, Indonesian Badminton Player
1982 – Devon Aoki, American supermodel and actress
1983 – Alexander Perezhogin, Russian ice hockey player
1983 – Mathieu Roy, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – Mariel Rodriguez, Filipino TV host
1985 – Roy O Donovan, Irish footballer
1989 – Ben Sahar, Israeli footballer
1989 – Sam Gagner, Canadian ice hockey player
1992 – Ko Ah-seong, South Korean actress
1993 – Yuto Nakajima, Japanese Actor and Singer
Deaths
612 BC – Sinsharishkun, Assyrian king
258 – Saint Lawrence, martyr
1535 – Ippolito de Medici, ruler of Florence (poisoned) (b. 1509)
1637 – Johann Gerhard, German Lutheran leader (b. 1582)
1653 – Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral (b. 1598)
1655 – Alfonso de la Cueva, marqués de Bedmar, Spanish cardinal and diplomat (b. 1572)
1723 – Guillaume Dubois, French cardinal and statesman (b. 1656)
1759 – King Ferdinand VI of Spain (b. 1713)
1784 – Allan Ramsay, Scottish painter (b. 1713)
1802 – Franz Aepinus, German scientist (b. 1724)
1806 – Michael Haydn, Austrian composer (b. 1737)
1839 – John St Aubyn, British fossil collector (b. 1758)
1862 – Shusaku Honinbo, Japanese Go player (b. 1829)
1875 – Karl Andree, German geographer (b. 1808)
1896 – Otto Lilienthal, German aviation pioneer (b. 1848)
1915 – Henry Moseley, English physicist (b. 1887)
1918 – Erich Lowenhardt, Germany flying ace of World War I (b. 1897)
1920 – Ádám Politzer, Austrian physician (b. 1835)
1928 – Rex Cherryman, American actor (b. 1897)
1929 – Pierre Fatou, French mathematician (b. 1878)
1932 – Rin Tin Tin, German shepherd dog (b. 1918)
1945 – Robert Goddard, American rocket scientist (b. 1882)
1948 – Kwan-Ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian(b. 1873)
1948 – Andrew Brown, Scottish football coach (b. 1870)
1948 – Montague Summers, English writer (b. 1880)
1958 – Frank Demaree, baseball player (b. 1910)
1963 – Estes Kefauver, American politician, United States Congressman & Senator from Tennessee (b. 1903)
1963 – Ernst Wetter, member of the Swiss Federal Council (b. 1877)
1969 – Leno LaBianca, American businessman (murdered) (b. 1925)
1969 – Rosemary LaBianca, American housewife (murdered) (b. 1930)
1976 – Bert Oldfield, Former Australian cricketer (b. 1894)
1979 – Walter Gerlach, German physicist (b. 1889)
1979 – Dick Foran, American actor (b. 1910)
1980 – Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan (b. 1917)
1993 – Øystein Aarseth, Norwegian musician (Mayhem) (b. 1968)
1997 – Conlon Nancarrow, American composer (b. 1912)
1997 – Jean-Claude Lauzon, Quebec film director (b. 1953)
1999 – Padma Bhushan Acharya Baldev Upadhyaya, Eminent Sanskrit Scholar in India (b. 1899)
2000 – Gilbert Parkhouse, Former England cricketer (b. 1925)
2001 – Lou Boudreau, American baseball player and manager (b. 1917)
2002 – Michael Houser, American guitarist (Widespread Panic) (b. 1962)
2002 – Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian computer scientist (b. 1926)
2003 – Carmita Jiménez, Puerto Rican singer
2007 – Henry Cabot Lodge Bohler, American member of Tuskegee Airmen and civil rights activist (b. 1925)
2007 – James E. Faust, Second Councilor of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (b. 1920)
2007 – Tony Wilson, British music personality and broadcaster (b. 1950)
2007 – Chris Reyka, BSO Sergeant (b. 1956)
2008 – Isaac Hayes, American musician and actor (b. 1942)
Holidays and observances
Roman festivals – Opalia, festival in honor of Ops
Ancient Latvia – Labrenca Diena held
Independence Day in Ecuador — Movement began in Quito in 1809. Independence not achieved till May 1822.
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