October 10 is the 283rd day of the year (284th in Leap years). There are 82 days remaining.

Events

600-1899

• 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, was decapitated by forces under Caliph Yazid I. This is commemorated by Shi'a Muslims as Aashurah.
• 732 - Battle of Tours: Near Poitiers, France, leader of the Franks Charles Martel and his men, defeat a large army of Moors, stopping the Muslims from spreading into Western Europe. The governor of Cordoba, Abd-ar-Rahman, is killed during the battle.
• 1471 - Battle of Brunkeberg in Stockholm: Sten Sture the Elder, the Regent of Sweden, with help of farmers and miners, repels an attack by Christian I, King of Denmark.
• 1575 - Battle of Dormans: Catholic forces under Duke Henry of Guise defeated the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others.
• 1780 - The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000-30,000 in Caribbean.
• 1845 - In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors.
• 1868 - Carlos Céspedes issued the Grito de Yara from his plantation, La Demajagua, proclaiming Cuba's independence.
• 1877 - Lieutenant-Colonel George Armstrong Custer is given a funeral with full military honors.

1900-1999

• 1911 - Wuchang Uprising which led to the demise of Qing Dynasty , the last emperial court in China, and the founding of the Republic of China.
• 1913 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggered the explosion of the Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the Panama Canal.
• 1920 - The Carinthian Plebiscite determined that the larger part of Carinthia became part of Austria.
• 1933 - A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by sabotage while en route from Cleveland to Chicago, the first such proven case in the history of commercial aviation.
• 1938 - The Blue Water Bridge opens, connecting Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario
• 1938 - World War II: The Munich Agreement cedes the Sudetenland to Germany.
• 1944 - Holocaust: 800 Gypsy children are systematically murdered at Auschwitz death camp.
• 1957 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he was refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.
• 1964 - The 1964 Summer Olympics open in Tokyo, Japan
• 1966 - Simon and Garfunkel release the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.
• 1970 - Fiji becomes independent.
• 1970 - In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
• 1971 - Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, the London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
• 1973 - Vice President of the United States Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with federal income tax evasion.
• 1978 - US President Jimmy Carter signs a bill into law that authorizes the minting of the Susan B. Anthony dollar.
• 1985 - United States Navy F-14 fighter jets intercept an Egyptian plane carrying the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijackers and force it to land at a NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily where they are arrested.
• 1986 - An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale strikes San Salvador, El Salvador, killing an estimated 1,500 people.
• 1987 - Fiji becomes a republic.
• 1997 - An Austral Airlines DC-9-32 crashes and explodes near Nuevo Berlin, Uruguay, killing 74.

2000-2099

• 2001 - US President George W. Bush presents a list of 22 most wanted terrorists.

Births

1600-1899

• 1684 - Antoine Watteau, French painter (d. 1721)
• 1780 - John Abercrombie, Scottish physician and philosopher
• 1813 - Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer
• 1834 - Aleksis Kivi, Finnish author
• 1861 - Fridtjof Nansen, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Arctic explorer (d. 1930)
• 1885 - Walter Anderson, German folklorist (d. 1962)
• 1898 - Lilly Daché, milliner (d. 1989)

1900-1999

• 1900 - Helen Hayes, actress (d. 1993)
• 1901 - Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor (d. 1966)
• 1906 - R.K. Narayan, Indian novelist (d. 2001)
• 1906 - Paul Creston, composer (d. 1985)
• 1913 - Claude Simon, French writer
• 1914 - Tommy Fine, Major League Baseball player (d. 2005)
• 1917 - Thelonious Monk, jazz pianist (d. 1982)
• 1924 - Ed Wood, American filmmaker (d. 1978)
• 1924 - James Clavell, author (d. 1994)
• 1926 - Richard Jaeckel, actor (d. 1997)
• 1930 - Harold Pinter, British playwright
• 1933 - Jay Sebring, Hollywood hair stylist
• 1938 - Moriyama Daido, Japanese photographer
• 1942 - Peter Coyote, actor
• 1946 - Charles Dance, actor
• 1946 - John Prine, singer
• 1946 - Ben Vereen, actor, dancer
• 1950 _ [Stuart Lamb], realtor
• 1951 - Ratu Epeli Ganilau, Fijian soldier and statesman.
• 1953 - Midge Ure, musician
• 1955 - David Lee Roth, singer
• 1957 - Rumiko Takahashi, Japanese manga artist
• 1958 - Tanya Tucker, country music singer
• 1960 - Eric Martin, rock vocalist
• 1961 - Jodi Benson, cartoon voice-over actress and singer
• 1963 - Daniel Pearl, journalist (d. 2002)
• 1963 - Rebecca Pidgeon, actress
• 1963 - Anita Mui, singer (d. 2003)
• 1966 - Tony Adams, English football player
• 1969 - Brett Favre, American football player
• 1970 - Maja Tatic, Serbian singer
• 1970 - Corinna May, German singer
• 1973 - Mario López, actor (Saved by the Bell)
• 1974 - Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR racer
• 1976 - Bob Burnquist, skateboarder
• 1992 - *[David Cushman], student

Deaths

1-1899

• 19 - Germanicus, father of Caligula and brother of Claudius
• 680 - Husayn bin Ali, grandson of Muhammad
• 732 - Abd ar-Rahman, governor of al-Andalus
• 1459 - Gianfrancesco Poggio Bracciolini, Italian humanist, classicist
• 1827 - Ugo Foscolo, Italian writer
• 1872 - William H. Seward, Secretary of State
• 1875 - Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, novelist, poet and dramatist
• 1893 - Lip Pike, baseball player

1900-1999

• 1901 - Lorenzo Snow, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1814)
• 1914 - Charles I of Romania
• 1927 - Gustave Whitehead, inventor
• 1940 - Berton Churchill, pioneer Hollywood actor
• 1964 - Eddie Cantor, singer, vaudeville performer
• 1971 - John Cawte Beaglehole, New Zealand historian
• 1978 - Ralph Metcalfe, track and field athlete
• 1979 - Christopher Evans, British psychologist and computer scientist
• 1983 - Ralph Richardson, actor
• 1985 - Yul Brynner, actor
• 1985 - Orson Welles, American director, actor
• 1998 - Clark Clifford, United States Secretary of Defense

2000-2099

• 2002 - Teresa Graves, actress, singer
• 2003 - Eugene Istomin, American pianist (b. 1925)
• 2004 - Arthur_H._Robinson, cartographer (b. 1915)
• 2004 - Maurice Shadbolt, New Zealand writer (b. 1932)
• 2004 - Christopher Reeve, actor (b. 1952)
• 2004 - Ken Caminiti, baseball player (b. 1963)

Holidays

• Republic of China (on Taiwan) - National Day (Double Tenth Day)
• Fiji - National Day

October 9 - October 11 - September 10 - November 10 - more historical anniversaries