December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 21 days remaining in the year.

Events

• 1041 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V.
• 1508 - League of Cambrai formed as an alliance against Venice between Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand II of Aragon.
• 1817 - Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state.
• 1836 - Emory College, now Emory University, is chartered in Oxford, Georgia.
• 1864 - William Tecumseh Sherman reaches Savannah, Georgia, ending his "March to the Sea".
• 1869 - Wyoming grants women the right to vote
• 1898 - A treaty is signed in Paris that officially ends the Spanish-American War.
• 1901 - First Nobel Prizes awarded
• 1906 - Theodore Roosevelt wins the Nobel Peace Prize
• 1936 - Edward VIII, the only British monarch to have voluntarily relinquished the throne, signed his instrument of abdication. He reverted to the title of "His Royal Highness Prince Edward of Windsor" the following day.
• 1941 - Japanese forces land in the Philippines, capture Guam and sink the British ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse
• 1948 - The UN General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• 1949 - Chinese Civil War: The Red Army begins its siege of Chengdu, the last KMT-held city on mainland China. Chiang Kai-shek leaves for Taiwan.
• 1953 - Dr. Albert Schweitzer is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1965 - The Grateful Dead play their first concert, at the Fillmore in San Francisco.
• 1972 - Professional Wrestler Ric Flair has his first match against against George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski. It was a 10 minute draw.
• 1975 - Andrei Sakharov wins the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize is accepted by his wife, Yelena Bonner
• 1978 - Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat win the Nobel Peace Prize
• 1983 - Lech Wałęsa wins the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize is accepted by his wife, Danuta.
• 1984 - Desmond Tutu wins the Nobel Peace Prize
• 1986 - Elie Wiesel wins the Nobel Peace Prize
• 1993 - Shareware version of Doom is released.
• 2002 - High Court of Australia handed down its judgement in the Internet defamation dispute in the case of Gutnick v. Dow Jones.
• 2004 - A Tombstone of Communist Carlos Marighella, in Salvador, Bahia is inaugurated to celebrate the of 35 years of his death. The tombstone was designed by Oscar Niemeyer.
• 2004 - Anil Kumble became India's highest wicket taker when he trapped Mohammad Rafique of Bangladesh to surpass Kapil Dev's haul of 435 wickets.

Births

• 1787 - Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, educator (d. 1851)
• 1805 - William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist, journalist (d. 1879)
• 1815 - Ada Lovelace, first computer programmer (d. 1852)
• 1822 - César Franck, composer and organist (d. 1890)
• 1830 - Emily Dickinson, poet (d. 1886)
• 1845 - Wilhelm von Bode, art historian (d. 1929)
• 1851 - Melvil Dewey, librarian, creator of the Dewey Decimal Classification system (d. 1931)
• 1870 - Adolf Loos, architect (d. 1933)
• 1882 - Otto Neurath, philosopher (d. 1945)
• 1891 - Nelly Sachs, writer and recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature 1966 (d. 1970)
• 1903 - Una Merkel, actress (d. 1986)
• 1907 - Rumer Godden, writer (d. 1998)
• 1908 - Olivier Messiaen, composer and ornithologist (d. 1992)
• 1909 - Hermes Pan, choreographer, dancer (d. 1990)
• 1911 - Chet Huntley, journalist (d. 1974)
• 1912 - Philip A. Hart, US senator (d. 1976)
• 1914 - Dorothy Lamour, actress (d. 1996)
• 1920 - Reginald Rose, writer (d. 2002)
• 1921 - Christine Brückner, author (d. 1996)
• 1928 - Dan Blocker, actor (d. 1972)
• 1947 - Douglas Kenney, humorist (d. 1980)
• 1948 - Jessica Cleaves, musician (P Funk)
• 1951 - Ellen Nikolaysen, Norwegian singer
• 1952 - Clive Anderson, television host
• 1952 - Susan Dey, actress
• 1957 - Michael Clarke Duncan, actor
• 1960 - Kenneth Branagh, actor, film director
• 1985 - Raven-Symoné, actress

Deaths

• 1865 - King Leopold I of Belgium (b. 1790)
• 1896 - Alfred Nobel, chemist, founder of the Nobel Prize (b. 1833)
• 1911 - Joseph Dalton Hooker, botanist (b. 1817)
• 1917 - Sir Mackenzie Bowell, fifth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1823)
• 1928 - Charles Rennie Mackintosh, architect, designer and illustrator (b. 1868)
• 1936 - Luigi Pirandello, Italian writer (b. 1867)
• 1941 - Colin Kelly, american airman.
• 1946 - Walter Johnson, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1887)
• 1946 - Damon Runyon, writer (b. 1884)
• 1951 - Algernon Blackwood, writer (b. 1869)
• 1967 - Otis Redding, singer (b. 1941)
• 1968 - Thomas Merton, monk and author (b. 1915)
• 1969 - Carlos Marighella, Brazilian Socialist.
• 1978 - Ed Wood, american filmmaker (b. 1924)
• 1979 - Ann Dvorak, american film actress (b. 1912)
• 1982 - Freeman F. Gosden, actor (b. 1899)
• 1987 - Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian violinist (b. 1901)
• 1996 - Faron Young, country music singer
• 1999 - Franjo Tuđman, president of Croatia (b. 1922)
• 2000 - Marie Windsor, actress
• 2001 - Ashok Kumar, actor, India

Holidays and observances

• Sweden - Nobel Prize Ceremony, an official flag day
• United Nations - Human Rights Day

December 9 - December 11 - November 10 - January 10 -- listing of all days

Deaths

• 1865 - King Leopold I of Belgium (b. 1790)
• 1896 - Alfred Nobel, chemist, founder of the Nobel Prize (b. 1833)
• 1911 - Joseph Dalton Hooker, botanist (b. 1817)
• 1917 - Sir Mackenzie Bowell, fifth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1823)
• 1928 - Charles Rennie Mackintosh, architect, designer and illustrator (b. 1868)
• 1929 - Harry Crosby, socialite, poetaster (suicide)
• 1936 - Luigi Pirandello, Italian writer (b. 1867)
• 1941 - Colin Kelly, american airman.
• 1946 - Walter Johnson, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1887)
• 1946 - Damon Runyon, writer (b. 1884)
• 1951 - Algernon Blackwood, writer (b. 1869)
• 1967 - Otis Redding, singer (b. 1941)
• 1968 - Thomas Merton, monk and author (b. 1915)
• 1969 - Carlos Marighella, Brazilian Socialist.
• 1978 - Ed Wood, american filmmaker (b. 1924)
• 1979 - Ann Dvorak, american film actress (b. 1912)
• 1982 - Freeman F. Gosden, actor (b. 1899)
• 1987 - Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian violinist (b. 1901)
• 1996 - Faron Young, country music singer
• 1999 - Franjo Tuđman, president of Croatia (b. 1922)
• 2000 - Marie Windsor, actress
• 2001 - Ashok Kumar, actor, India

Holidays and observances

• Sweden - Nobel Prize Ceremony, an official flag day
• United Nations - Human Rights Day

December 9 - December 11 - November 10 - January 10 -- listing of all days