On This Day — 10 September
2000s
2025
American right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk is assassinated while onstage at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
Conservatism in the United States
2024
Polaris Dawn, the first private crewed spaceflight to involve a spacewalk, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Polaris Dawn
2017
Hurricane Irma makes landfall on Cudjoe Key, Florida as a Category 4, after causing catastrophic damage throughout the Caribbean. Irma resulted in 134 deaths and $77.2 billion (2017 USD) in damage.
Hurricane Irma
2008
The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in history, is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland.
Large Hadron Collider
2007
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan after seven years in exile, following a military coup in October 1999.
Nawaz Sharif
2002
Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, becomes a full member of the United Nations.
Foreign relations of Switzerland
2001
Antônio da Costa Santos, mayor of Campinas, Brazil is assassinated.
Antônio da Costa Santos
2001
During his appearance on the British TV game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, contestant Charles Ingram reaches the £1 million top prize, but it was later revealed that he had cheated to the top prize by listening to coughs from his wife and another contestant.
Charles Ingram
2000
Operation Barras successfully frees six British soldiers held captive for over two weeks and contributes to the end of the Sierra Leone Civil War.
Operation Barras
1900s
1977
Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of torture and murder, is the last person to be executed by guillotine in France.
Hamida Djandoubi
1976
A British Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident and an Inex-Adria DC-9 collide near Zagreb, Yugoslavia, killing 176.
1976 Zagreb mid-air collision
1974
Guinea-Bissau gains independence from Portugal.
Guinea-Bissau
1967
The people of Gibraltar vote to remain a British dependency rather than becoming part of Spain.
1967 Gibraltar sovereignty referendum
1961
In the Italian Grand Prix, a crash causes the death of German Formula One driver Wolfgang von Trips and 15 spectators who are hit by his Ferrari, the deadliest accident in F1 history.
1961 Italian Grand Prix
1960
At the Summer Olympics in Rome, Abebe Bikila becomes the first sub-Saharan African to win a gold medal, winning the marathon in bare feet.
Abebe Bikila
1943
World War II: In the course of Operation Achse, German troops begin their occupation of Rome.
Operation Achse
1942
World War II: The British Army carries out an amphibious landing on Madagascar to re-launch Allied offensive operations in the Madagascar Campaign.
Battle of Madagascar
1939
World War II: The submarine HMS Oxley is mistakenly sunk by the submarine HMS Triton near Norway and becomes the Royal Navy's first loss of a submarine in the war.
World War II
1939
World War II: The Canadian declaration of war on Germany receives royal assent.
Canadian declaration of war on Germany
1937
Nine nations attend the Nyon Conference to address international piracy in the Mediterranean Sea.
Nyon Conference
1936
The first world individual Speedway World Championship was held at London's Wembley Stadium.
Speedway World Championship
1932
The New York City Subway's third competing subway system, the municipally owned IND, is opened.
Independent Subway System
1919
The Republic of German-Austria signs the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, ceding significant territories to Italy, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia.
Republic of German-Austria
1918
Russian Civil War: The Red Army captures Kazan.
Russian Civil War
1800s
1898
Empress Elisabeth of Austria is assassinated by Luigi Lucheni.
Empress Elisabeth of Austria
1897
Lattimer massacre: A sheriff's posse kills 19 unarmed striking immigrant miners in Lattimer, Pennsylvania, United States.
Lattimer massacre
1858
George Mary Searle discovers the asteroid 55 Pandora.
George Mary Searle
1846
Elias Howe is granted a patent for the sewing machine.
Elias Howe
1813
The United States defeats a British Fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.
Battle of Lake Erie
Before 1800
1798
At the Battle of St. George's Caye, British Honduras defeats Spain.
Battle of St. George's Caye
1776
American Revolutionary War: Nathan Hale volunteers to spy for the Continental Army.
American Revolutionary War
1724
Johann Sebastian Bach leads the first performance of Jesu, der du meine Seele, BWV 78, a chorale cantata based on a passion hymn by Johann Rist.
Johann Sebastian Bach
1640
Reapers' War: Junta de Braços (Assembly of Estates) of the Principality of Catalonia summoned. It assumes the sovereignty and enacts a series of revolutionary measures which will lead to the Catalan Republic.
Reapers' War
1622
Fifty-five Christians are executed in Nagasaki during the Great Genna Martyrdom.
Nagasaki
1608
John Smith is elected council president of Jamestown, Virginia.
John Smith (explorer)
1607
Edward Maria Wingfield is ousted as first president of the governing council of the Colony of Virginia; he is replaced by John Ratcliffe.
Edward Maria Wingfield
1573
German pirate Klein Henszlein and 33 of his crew are beheaded in Hamburg.
Klein Henszlein
1570
Spanish Jesuit missionaries land in present-day Virginia to establish the short-lived Ajacán Mission.
Ajacán Mission
1561
Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima: Takeda Shingen defeats Uesugi Kenshin in the climax of their ongoing conflicts.
Battles of Kawanakajima
1547
The Battle of Pinkie, the last full-scale military confrontation between England and Scotland, resulting in a decisive victory for the forces of Edward VI.
Battle of Pinkie
1515
Thomas Wolsey is invested as a Cardinal.
Thomas Wolsey
1509
An earthquake known as "The Lesser Judgment Day" hits Constantinople.
1509 Constantinople earthquake
1419
John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy is assassinated by adherents of the Dauphin, the future Charles VII of France.
Assassination of John the Fearless
1089
The first synod of pope Urban II starts in Melfi, with seventy bishops and twelve abbots in attendance. The synod issues several decrees about church law and deals with the relation with the Greek part of the Church.
Synod of Melfi (1089)
506
The bishops of Visigothic Gaul meet in the Council of Agde.
Council of Agde