On This Day — 10 August

2024

Israel strikes Al-Tabaeen school in eastern Gaza City, killing at least 80 Palestinians.

Israel Defense Forces

2020

Derecho in Iowa becomes the most costly thunderstorm disaster in U.S. history.

2020 Midwest derecho

2019

Thirty-two are killed and one million are evacuated as Typhoon Lekima makes landfall in Zhejiang, China. Earlier it had caused flooding in the Philippines.

Typhoon Lekima

2019

Philip Manshaus shoots his stepsister and attacks a mosque in the Bærum mosque shooting.

2019 Bærum murder and mosque attack

2018

Horizon Air employee Richard Russell hijacks and performs an unauthorized takeoff on a Horizon Air Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 plane at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport in Washington, flying it for more than an hour before crashing the plane and killing himself on Ketron Island in Puget Sound.

Horizon Air

2018

An anti-government rally turns into a riot when members of the Romanian Gendarmerie attack the 100,000 people protesting in front of the Victoria Palace, leading to 452 recorded injuries. The authorities alleged that the crowd was infiltrated by hooligans who began attacking law enforcement agents.

2017–2019 Romanian protests

2014

Forty people are killed when Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915 crashes at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport.

Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915

2012

The Marikana massacre begins near Rustenburg, South Africa, resulting in the deaths of 47 people.

Marikana massacre

2009

Twenty people are killed in Handlová, Trenčín Region, in the deadliest mining disaster in Slovakia's history.

Handlová

2003

The Okinawa Urban Monorail is opened in Naha, Okinawa.

Okinawa Urban Monorail

2001

The 2001 Angola train attack occurred, causing 252 deaths.

2001 Angola train attack

2001

Space Shuttle program: The Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-105 to the International Space Station, carrying the astronauts of Expedition 3 to replace the crew of Expedition 2.

Space Shuttle program

1999

One person is killed and five people are injured in the Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting.

1999 Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting

1998

HRH Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah is proclaimed the crown prince of Brunei with a Royal Proclamation.

Al-Muhtadee Billah

1997

Sixteen people are killed when Formosa Airlines Flight 7601 crashes near Beigan Airport in the Matsu Islands of Taiwan.

Formosa Airlines Flight 7601

1995

Oklahoma City bombing: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols are indicted for the bombing. Michael Fortier pleads guilty in a plea-bargain for his testimony.

Oklahoma City bombing

1993

Two earthquakes affect New Zealand. A 7.0 Mw  shock (intensity VI (Strong)) in the South Island was followed nine hours later by a 6.4 Mw  event (intensity VII (Very strong)) in the North Island.

List of earthquakes in New Zealand

1990

The Magellan space probe reaches Venus.

Magellan (spacecraft)

1988

Japanese American internment: U.S. 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.

Internment of Japanese Americans

1981

Murder of Adam Walsh: The head of John Walsh's son is found. This inspires the creation of the television series America's Most Wanted and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Murder of Adam Walsh

1978

Three members of the Ulrich family are killed in an accident. This leads to the Ford Pinto litigation.

Ford Pinto

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.

Yonkers, New York

1971

The Society for American Baseball Research is founded in Cooperstown, New York.

Society for American Baseball Research

1969

A day after murdering actress Sharon Tate and four others, members of Charles Manson's cult kill Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

Sharon Tate

1966

The Heron Road Bridge collapses while being built, killing nine workers in the deadliest construction accident in both Ottawa and Ontario.

Heron Road Workers Memorial Bridge

1961

Vietnam War: The U.S. Army begins Operation Ranch Hand, spraying an estimated 20 million US gallons (76,000 m3) of defoliants and herbicides over rural areas of South Vietnam in an attempt to deprive the Viet Cong of food and vegetation cover.

Vietnam War

1954

At Massena, New York, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Saint Lawrence Seaway is held.

Massena, New York

1953

First Indochina War: The French Union withdraws its forces from Operation Camargue against the Viet Minh in central Vietnam.

First Indochina War

1949

An amendment to the National Security Act of 1947 enhances the authority of the United States Secretary of Defense over the Army, Navy and Air Force, and replaces the National Military Establishment with the Department of Defense.

National Security Act of 1947

1948

Candid Camera makes its television debut after being on radio for a year as The Candid Microphone.

Candid Camera

1945

The Japanese government announced that a message had been sent to the Allies accepting the terms of the Potsdam Declaration provided that it "does not comprise any demand that prejudices the prerogatives of the Emperor as sovereign ruler."

Potsdam Declaration

1944

World War II: The Battle of Guam in the Pacific comes to an effective end.

World War II

1944

World War II: The Battle of Narva on the Eastern Front ends with a defensive German victory.

Battle of Narva (1944)

1937

Spanish Civil War: The Regional Defence Council of Aragon is dissolved by the Second Spanish Republic.

Spanish Civil War

1920

World War I: Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI's representatives sign the Treaty of Sèvres that divides up the Ottoman Empire between the Allies.

World War I

1913

Second Balkan War: Delegates from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece sign the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the war.

Second Balkan War

1905

Russo-Japanese War: Peace negotiations begin in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

1904

Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of the Yellow Sea between the Russian and Japanese battleship fleets takes place.

Russo-Japanese War

1901

The U.S. Steel recognition strike by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers begins.

U.S. Steel recognition strike of 1901

1864

After Uruguay's governing Blanco Party refuses Brazil's demands, José Antônio Saraiva announces that the Brazilian military will begin reprisals, beginning the Uruguayan War.

National Party (Uruguay)

1861

American Civil War: Battle of Wilson's Creek: A mixed force of Confederate, Missouri State Guard, and Arkansas State troops defeat outnumbered attacking Union forces in the southwestern part of the state.

American Civil War

1856

The Last Island hurricane strikes Louisiana, resulting in over 200 deaths.

1856 Last Island hurricane

1835

P. T. Barnum begins his career as a showman and circus entrepreneur by exhibiting Joice Heth, an octogenerian African slave whom he claims was George Washington's nursemaid.

P. T. Barnum

1808

Finnish War: Swedish forces led by General von Döbeln defeat Russian forces led by General Šepelev in the Battle of Kauhajoki.

Finnish War

1792

French Revolution: Storming of the Tuileries Palace: Louis XVI is arrested and taken into custody as his Swiss Guards are massacred by the Parisian mob.

French Revolution

1755

Under the direction of Charles Lawrence, the British begin to forcibly deport the Acadians from Nova Scotia to the Thirteen Colonies and France.

Charles Lawrence (British Army officer)

1741

King Marthanda Varma of Travancore defeats the Dutch East India Company at the Battle of Colachel, effectively bringing about the end of the Dutch colonial rule in India.

Marthanda Varma

1680

The Pueblo Revolt begins in New Mexico.

Pueblo Revolt

1641

The Treaty of London between England and Scotland, ending the Bishops' Wars, is signed.

Treaty of London (1641)

1628

The Swedish warship Vasa sinks on her maiden voyage off Stockholm.

Vasa (ship)

1585

The Treaty of Nonsuch signed by Elizabeth I of England and the Dutch Rebels.

Treaty of Nonsuch

1557

Battle of St. Quentin: Spanish victory over the French in the Italian War of 1551–59.

Battle of St. Quentin (1557)

1519

Ferdinand Magellan's five ships set sail from Seville to circumnavigate the globe. The Basque second-in-command Juan Sebastián Elcano will complete the expedition after Magellan's death in the Philippines.

Ferdinand Magellan

1512

The naval Battle of Saint-Mathieu, during the War of the League of Cambrai, sees the simultaneous destruction of the Breton ship La Cordelière and the English ship The Regent.

Battle of Saint-Mathieu

1346

Jaume Ferrer sets out from Mallorca for the "River of Gold", the Senegal River.

Jaume Ferrer

1316

The Second Battle of Athenry takes place near Athenry during the Bruce campaign in Ireland.

Second Battle of Athenry

1270

Yekuno Amlak takes the imperial throne of Ethiopia, restoring the Solomonic dynasty to power after a 100-year Zagwe interregnum.

Yekuno Amlak

1030

The Battle of Azaz ends with a humiliating retreat of the Byzantine emperor, Romanos III Argyros, against the Mirdasid rulers of Aleppo. The retreat degenerates into a rout, in which Romanos himself barely escapes capture.

Battle of Azaz (1030)

991

Battle of Maldon: The English, led by Byrhtnoth, Ealdorman of Essex, are defeated by a band of inland-raiding Vikings near Maldon, Essex.

Battle of Maldon

955

Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeats the Magyars, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West.

Battle of Lechfeld

654

Pope Eugene I elected to succeed Martinus I.

Pope Eugene I