/year

December 10 in history

237 sourced entries recorded on December 10, from 125 CE to 2023 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 208Cao Cao writes Duǎn Ge Xíng.source
  • 925In Pamplona in Spain, Jimeno II becomes the new King of Navarre in Spain upon the death of his brother, King Sancho I.source
  • 1264Hungarian Civil War, a dynastic conflict, erupts between King Béla IV and his son, Duke Stephen. Hungarian forces under Ladislaus II Kán invades Stephen's realm and push forward unhindered penetrating the valley of the Mureș River in the southern part of Transylvania. Stephen's army halts Ladislaus' advance at the Fortress of Deva (modern Romania).source
  • 1302The Inuigin Era (Kengen) begins in Japan during the reign after the coronation of Emperor Gonijo.source
  • 1354The reign of John VI Kantakouzenos as Byzantine Emperor is ended, after John V Palaiologos retakes Constantinople and is restored as sole emperor.source
  • 1383(12th waning of Pyatho 745 ME) After breaking through Queen Maha Dewi's last defenses, Binnya Nwe's troops reach the walls of Pegu and forces a stalemate between Queen Maha and Prince Nwe.source
  • 1392The Parliament of France condemns the kingdom's Constable, Olivier V de Clisson, for having illegally enriched himself at the expense of King Charles VI.source
  • 1399Manuel II Palaiologos, The Emperor of Byzantium, departs from Constantinople along with French General Jean II Le Maingre (known as Boucicaut) and a ships of the Venetian navy on a diplomatic mission to obtain military aid, traveling first to the Republic of Venice to negotiate with the Doge Antonio Venier.source
  • 1410The Teutonic Council, led by the Grand Master Heinrich von Plauen, and King Jogalia of Poland and Duke of Lithuania enter into a 32-day truce.source
  • 1424Radu II Chelul becomes the Prince of Wallachia (now in Romania) for the third time, taking over from Dan II after an Ottoman invasion.source
  • 1432The Ming Chinese expedition stops briefly at the Calicut Kingdom (now part of the Kerala state of India) and leaves on December 14 to sail westward across the Indian Ocean toward the island of Hormuz.source
  • 1446After hesitating for several weeks, Sultan Murad II, of the Ottoman Empire, destroys the Hexamilion wall, in an assault that includes cannons. Murad and the Ottoman governor of Thessaly, Turakhan Beg, ravage the Peloponnese Peninsula at will, with the Sultan devastating the northern shore, while Glarentza and Turakhan raid in the interior. The Despotate of the Morea is turned into an Ottoman vassal state.source
  • 1481The Duchy of Anjou and the Provence revert to the French crown.source
  • 1481With the death of Duke Charles IV of Anjou, Anjou reverts to the French crown under Louis XI, as does the Provence, which until then was part of the Holy Roman Empire.source
  • 1485Members of the House of Commons ask King Henry VII to marry Elizabeth of York.source
  • 1508The League of Cambrai is formed as an alliance against the Republic of Venice, between Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand II of Aragon.source
  • 1510Albuquerque recaptures Goasource
  • 1520Martin Luther burns a copy of The Book of Canon Law (see Canon Law), and his copy of the Papal bull Exsurge Domine.source
  • 1541Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham are both executed at Tyburn after being convicted of treason in committing adultery with Queen Catherine. Culpeper is beheaded, while Dereham is hanged, drawn and quartered. As a warning to the public, the severed heads of both men are placed on spikes on the London Bridge.source
  • 1572For administrative purposes, the Kingdom of Portugal divides its colony in Brazil into two colonies, with one Governor-General at Rio de Janeiro and another at Bahia. The two colonies will be reunified on April 12, 1578.source
  • 1589In India, Man Singh I becomes the new raja of the Kingdom of Amber (now part of the Rajasthan state) upon the death of his father, Bhagwant Das.source
  • 1607Captain John Smith and nine men depart the Jamestown Colony on a barge in order to get more corn for the English fort. Sailing up the Chickahominy River, the boat reaches a settlement of the Appomattoc tribe at Apocant. While Smith, Jehu Robinson and Thomas Emery are further upstream in a canoe, George Casson is captured at Apocant by Opchanacanough, brother of Chief Powhatan. Robinson and Emery are killed while Smith is away from their camp, and Smith is soon taken prisoner by Opchancanough and, on January 5, is delivered to Powhatan at Werowocomoco for execution. After an intervention by Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas, Smith is released a month after his capture.source
  • 1616An ordinance establishes parish schools in Scotland. The same act of the Privy Council commends the abolition of Gaelic.source
  • 1649Cromwell calls off the siege of Waterford and retires to Youghal: due to bad weather and disease, only 3,000 of his 6,500 besieging force are still fit for duty.source
  • 1652First Anglo-Dutch War: Defeat at the Battle of Dungeness causes the Commonwealth of England to reform its navy.source
  • 1652Decree in Liège ordering owners of mills, forges and furnaces along the river Ourthe to remove all obstacles to navigation on the river.source
  • 1665The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps is founded by Michiel de Ruyter.source
  • 1679A peace treaty is signed between Ali Bey al-Muradi, Bey of Tunis; his brother whom he had overthrown in 1678, Muhammad Bey al-Muradi; and their uncle, Muhammad al-Hafsi al-Muradi, the Pasha of Tunis, after mediation by the Dey of Algiers.source
  • 1684Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmond Halley.source
  • 1684Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmund Halley.source
  • 1685In what is now Thailand, King Narai of Ayutthaya signs a treaty with representatives of France at Lopburi, allowing Roman Catholic missionaries to preach the Gospel and exempting Thai Catholics from work on Sunday, as well as appointing a special court to settle disputes between Thai Christians and non-Christians.source
  • 1689A great comet is visible from Pekin and sightings continue until December 24th, including many from Dutch ships near the equator.source
  • 1690Playwright Henry Nevil Payne is tortured for his role in the Montgomery Plot to restore James II to the throne — the last time a political prisoner is legally subjected to torture in Britain.source
  • 1692Ole Judichær becomes the first factory director of the new Royal Danish Naval Dockyard at Nyholm in Copenhagen. (died 1729)source
  • 1699A major ice storm shuts down the city of Boston for a week and freezing rain brings down many tree branches and causes severe damage to orchards.source
  • 1703December 7–10 (November 26–29 O.S.) – The Great Storm of 1703, an extratropical cyclone, ravages southern England and the English Channel, killing at least 8,000, mostly at sea. The Eddystone Lighthouse off Plymouth is destroyed in the storm together with its designer Henry Winstanley and many buildings on land are damaged.source
  • 1710War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Villaviciosa: The indecisive battle between retreating Austrian-Dutch forces and a Franco-Spanish army is fought out.source
  • 1710The Battle of Lohgarh takes place between Sikh forces and the Mughal army.source
  • 1710December 10 − Battle of Villaviciosasource
  • 1713The rebellion of Richard Raworth, Deputy Governor of Fort St. David (now abandoned and in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu near Cuddalore), against the British East India Company comes to an end after two months when forces sent by Bridish Madras Governor Edward Harrison to negotiate a settlement allowing Raworth to surrender in return for amnesty.source
  • 1714the College of Missions is established.source
  • 1718Pirate Stede Bonnet is hanged at Charleston, after being recaptured.source
  • 1743King Louis XV of France informs King Philip V of Spain of his intent to try to restore the House of Stuart to the throne of the United Kingdom. James Francis Edward Stuart was briefly the Crown Prince of England and Scotland until his father, King James II, was deposed in 1688 and, as Pretender to the Throne, would become King James III if the attack, planned for January 1, 1744 succeeds.source
  • 1759Shah Jahan III is installed as the puppet ruler of India's Mughal Empire eleven days after the death of Alamgir II, but is removed after a reign of only ten months.source
  • 1768The first of the weekly numbers of the Encyclopædia Britannica, edited by William Smellie, are published in Edinburgh; one hundred are planned.source
  • 1768The Royal Academy is founded in London, with Joshua Reynolds as its first President.source
  • 1768first volumes of Encyclopædia Britannica begin publication in Edinburgh.source
  • 1768Richard Wilson is a founder member of the Royal Academy of Arts.source
  • 1778John Jay of New York is chosen as the sixth President of the Continental Congress.source
  • 1790The Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars begin in New South Wales, Australia, as a result of deterioration in relations and increasing colonization.source
  • 1792With the colony beginning to flourish, Phillip is granted leave and permitted to return to England. He leaves on the Atlantic, taking Bennelong and Yemmerrawanne with him, and retires to a quiet life in Bath. While the British government decides on a replacement, Francis Grose (the commanding officer of the New South Wales Corps) takes control as Acting Governor.source
  • 1798HMS Colossus, returning from the French Revolutionary Wars, runs aground off Samson, Isles of Scilly. There is only one casualty but antiquities being shipped to England by Sir William Hamilton are lost.source
  • 1799France adopts the metre as its official unit of length.source
  • 1807December 5–11 – Napoleonic Wars: Raid on Griessie – A British Royal Navy squadron attacks the Dutch port of Griessie on Java in the Dutch East Indies, eliminating the last Dutch naval force in the Pacific and concluding the Java campaign of 1806–1807.source
  • 1816December 9–21 – The American Colonization Society is established, to support the emigration of free African Americans to Africa.source
  • 1817Mississippi is admitted as the 20th U.S. state, formerly the Mississippi Territory.source
  • 1817Mississippi is admitted as the 20th U.S. state, formerly the Mississippi Territory. (see History of Mississippi). Then Alabama Territory is effective.source
  • 1823Mary Anning finds the first complete Plesiosaurus skeleton, on the Jurassic Coast.source
  • 1832U.S. President Andrew Jackson responds to the Nullification Crisis by threatening to send the U.S. Army and Navy into South Carolina if it does not comply.source
  • 1834Sir Robert Peel succeeds The Duke of Wellington as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.source
  • 1848Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte is elected first president of the French Second Republic.source
  • 1852abolishing of the death penalty for political crimes.source
  • 1854Sa'id Pasha officially abolishes slavery in Egypt.source
  • 1859The Ateneo de Manila University is founded, as the Escuela Municipal de Manila.source
  • 1861American Civil War: A rebel government representing Kentucky is accepted into the Confederate States of America, although Kentucky officially remains part of the United States.source
  • 1861In southern French Indochina, resistance forces led by Nguyễn Trung Trực ambush, board and sink the French lorcha (boat) L'Esperance on the Nhat Tao canal.source
  • 1869Women's suffrage: The Wyoming territorial legislature gives women the right to vote, the first such law in the world.source
  • 1869The first American chapter of Kappa Sigma is founded at the University of Virginia.source
  • 1870The Reichstag of the North German Confederation renames the Confederation the "North German Confederation of the German Empire".source
  • 1871German chancellor Otto von Bismarck tries to ban Catholics from the political stage by introducing harsh laws concerning the separation of church and state.source
  • 1871Otto von Bismarck tries to ban Catholics from the political stage by introducing harsh laws concerning the separation of church and state.source
  • 1872Henri Guillaume resigns as Minister of War after failing to get the government to adopt a policy of personal military service.source
  • 1880an underground firedamp explosion at Naval Steam Colliery, Penygraig, in the Rhondda, kills 101 coal miners.source
  • 1884Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is first published, in London.source
  • 1890The New York World Building is completed in New York City, the tallest building in the United States for 10 years at a height of 110 meters.source
  • 1891The Calgary and Edmonton Railway opens, connecting Edmonton to the national railway network for the first time.source
  • 1895Launceston, Tasmania becomes the first Australian city to be powered by hydro-electricity with the opening of the Duck Reach Power Stationsource
  • 1896The premiere of Alfred Jarry's absurdist play Ubu Roi in Paris causes a near-riot.source
  • 1898The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Spanish–American War.source
  • 1898Treaty of Paris (1898)source
  • 1899Four-month-old Sobhuza II begins his 82-year reign as King of Swaziland.source
  • 1899The college fraternity Delta Sigma Phi is founded at the City College of New York.source
  • 1901The first Nobel Prize ceremony is held in Stockholm, on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.source
  • 1902The first Aswan Dam on the Nile is completed.source
  • 1902Ronald Ross wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his work on malaria, by which he has shown how it enters the organism and thereby has laid the foundation for successful research on this disease and methods of combating it".source
  • 1904The Pi Kappa Phi fraternity is founded at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina.source
  • 1905December 7–18 – Moscow Uprising: A Bolshevik-led revolt is suppressed by the army.source
  • 1905David Lloyd George joins the new Liberal Cabinet of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman as President of the Board of Trade.source
  • 1906J. J. Thomson wins the Nobel Prize in Physics "in recognition of the great merits of his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases."source
  • 1908the National Farmers' Union is founded.source
  • 1909Guglielmo Marconi receives the Nobel Prize for Physics.source
  • 1909Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first woman to be given the Nobel Prize in Literature.source
  • 1910Giacomo Puccini's opera La fanciulla del West has its world première at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, conducted by Arturo Toscanini and starring Enrico Caruso and Emmy Destinn.source
  • 1913Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Henri La Fontaine, head of the International Peace Bureau.source
  • 1915December 4–18 – The 'Peace Ship' Oscar II chartered by industrialist Henry Ford sails from Hoboken, New Jersey to Oslo on an independent and eventually unsuccessful mission to broker a peace conference.source
  • 1915The 1 millionth Ford car rolls off the assembly line at the River Rouge Plant in Detroit, Michigan.source
  • 1915Father and son scientists William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg win the Nobel Prize in Physics.source
  • 1915December 9–14 – Sankebetsu brown bear incident: was the worst bear attack in Japanese history, killing seven settlers in Rokusensawa, Sankebetsu, Tomamae, Rumoi, Hokkaidō, Japan.source
  • 1918Royal Australian Navy ships sail to the Black Sea to assist the White Army in the Russian Civil War.source
  • 1919Keith and Ross Smith, piloting a Vickers Vimy, reach Darwin at the end of the first England to Australia flight.source
  • 1920Irish War of Independence: Martial law is declared in Counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary by the British authorities.source
  • 1922Francis William Aston wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his discovery, by means of his mass spectrograph, of isotopes, in a large number of non-radioactive elements, and for his enunciation of the whole-number rule".source
  • 1922anti-Treaty IRA men set fire to the home of Seán McGarry. His seven-year-old son, Emmet, is badly burned and dies.source
  • 1928Surname law (up to 1928 people had no surnames and instead of surnames their place of birth was in use)source
  • 1931Niceto Alcalá-Zamora is elected president of the Spanish Republic.source
  • 1932Promulgation of the first permanent constitution by the king at the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall. The National Assembly of Siam was established.source
  • 1932The Emu War in Australia ends in failure.source
  • 1935James Chadwick wins the Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the neutron."source
  • 1935Hanshin Tigers, a well known professional baseball club of Japan, is founded in Osaka.source
  • 1936Edward VIII abdication crisis: King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom signs an instrument of abdication at Fort Belvedere, Surrey in the presence of his three brothers, The Duke of York, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent.source
  • 1941British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse are sunk by Japanese aircraft in the South China Sea north of Singapore.source
  • 19411941 Van–Erciş earthquakesource
  • 1942The Holocaust: The Polish government-in-exile sends copies of The Mass Extermination of Jews in German Occupied Poland, including Raczyński's Note, the first official report on The Holocaust, to 26 governments who signed the Declaration by United Nations.source
  • 1944Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini leads a concert performance of the first half of Beethoven's Fidelio (minus its spoken dialogue) on NBC Radio, starring Rose Bampton. He chooses this opera for its political message: a statement against tyranny and dictatorship. Presenting it in German, Toscanini intends it as a tribute to the German people who are being oppressed by Hitler. The second half is broadcast a week later. The performance is later released on LP and CD, the first of 7 operas that Toscanini conducts on radio.source
  • 1945Professor Gabriela Mistral receives the Nobel Prize for Literature awarded by the Swedish Academy.source
  • 1946John Peters Humphrey, main author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, becomes Director of the United Nations Division of Human Rights.source
  • 1948The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.source
  • 1948Turkey became a member of UNESCOsource
  • 19491949 Australian federal election: The Liberal/Country Coalition led by Robert Menzies defeats the Labor government, led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley. Menzies is sworn in on December 19, his second stint as prime minister; he will hold the office for over 16 years until his retirement in 1966 and Labor will not win office again until 1972, under Gough Whitlam.source
  • 1952Albert Schweitzer is given the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize.source
  • 19551955 Australian federal election: Robert Menzies' Liberal/Country Coalition Government is re-elected with a substantially increased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by H. V. Evatt. This election comes in the immediate aftermath of the devastating split in the Labor Party, which leads to the formation of the Democratic Labor Party. The DLP will preference against Labor, and keep the Coalition in office until 1972.source
  • 1955The Asia Insurance Building is opened, then Southeast Asia's tallest building.source
  • 1957Canadian diplomat Lester B. Pearson receives the Nobel Peace Prize, for his peacekeeping efforts in the United Nations.source
  • 1958The 10th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was celebrated.source
  • 1960Praia National Lyceum (Liceu Nacional da Praia) was established, today known as Liceu Domingos Ramossource
  • 1961Albania–Soviet relations: The Soviet Union severs diplomatic relations with Albania.source
  • 1962David Lean's epic film Lawrence of Arabia, featuring Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins and Anthony Quinn, premieres in London; 6 days later, it opens in the U.S.source
  • 1963Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom, as a constitutional monarchy under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.source
  • 1963Chuck Yeager narrowly escapes death while testing an NF-104A rocket-augmented aerospace trainer when his aircraft goes out of control at 108,700 feet (nearly 21 miles up) and crashes. He parachutes to safety at 8,500 feet after vainly battling to gain control of the powerless, rapidly falling craft. In this incident he becomes the first pilot to make an emergency ejection in the full pressure suit needed for high altitude flights.source
  • 1965Lars Christensen, ship-owner and whaling magnate (born 1884).source
  • 1968Japan's biggest heist, the never-solved "300 million yen robbery", occurs in Tokyo.source
  • 1969Floods hit Singapore after heavy rain, leaving five fatalities.source
  • 1971Liberation of Laksham. Two Bangladeshi ships sunk mistakenly by Indian air attack.source
  • 1971The John Sinclair Freedom Rally in support of the imprisoned activist features a performance by John Lennon at Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan.source
  • 1976The first F-15 fighter aircraft arrive in Israel. The fact that they landed in Israel on a Friday evening, after the start of Sabbath, causes a political crisis and prompts the religious parties in the Knesset to topple the first Rabin government.source
  • 19771977 Australian federal election: Malcolm Fraser's Liberal/National Country Coalition government is re-elected with a slightly reduced majority, defeating the Labor Party led by former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Consequently, Whitlam resigns as ALP leader after holding the job for nearly 11 years; he is replaced by former treasurer Bill Hayden.source
  • 1977The Science Centre Singapore (then Singapore Science Centre) is officially opened.source
  • 1978The commissioning of first unit of Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Taipei County.source
  • 1979Abdus Salam wins the first Nobel Prize for the country.source
  • 1981During the Ministerial Session of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels, Spain signs the Protocol of Accession to NATO.source
  • 1982United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea signed at Montego Bay; it becomes fully effective on November 16, 1994, on receiving 60 signatures.source
  • 1983Military rule ends and democracy is restored in Argentina, with the beginning of Raúl Alfonsín's first term as President of Argentina.source
  • 1984The final rapport about the RSV-shipyard appears. The Van Dijk commission gives a hard judgment on minister of Economic affairs Gijs van Aardenne, who insufficiently provided the House of Representatives with information about the many subsidies the company received. The minister survives a vote of no-confidence, despite the rapport.source
  • 1987The Omniplanetarium (present-day Omni-Theatre) is officially opened.source
  • 1987Hamas is founded by Palestinian Islamic scholar Ahmed Yassin after the outbreak of the First Intifada.source
  • 1989Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces the establishment of Mongolia's democratic movement, that peacefully changes the second-oldest Communist country into a democracy.source
  • 1991Alirio Pedraza, an attorney who investigated human rights abuses and had disappeared the year prior, is honored by Human Rights Watch “to commend [his] dedication to justice and to highlight [his] plight” as apart from their annual selection of human rights advocates.source
  • 1993id Software releases the first-person shooter game Doom.source
  • 1994Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat receive the Nobel Peace Prize.source
  • 1996The Oil-for-Food Programme implementation begins with the first Iraqi oil export.source
  • 1996The Supreme Court rejects a petition from the Presidential Commission on Good Government to keep five individuals appointed to the 15-member board of directors of the San Miguel Corporation, allowing former Marcos crony Danding Cojuangco to regain his shares, including the company, which were sequestered by the government after the 1986 ouster of president Ferdinand Marcos.source
  • 1997The capital of Kazakhstan is moved from Almaty to Astana.source
  • 2003Near the border with Somalia, farmers have been growing khat instead of coffee.source
  • 2003December 5–13 – 2003 SEA Games was held. This was the first time Vietnam staged the SEA Games.source
  • 2005Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crashes at Port Harcourt International Airport.source
  • 2008The Channel Island of Sark, a British Crown dependency, holds its first fully democratic elections under a new constitutional arrangement, becoming the last European territory to abolish feudalism.source
  • 2009December 7–18 – The UNFCCC's 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference is held in Copenhagen, Denmark.source
  • 2010November 29–December 10 – The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference is held in Cancún, Mexico. Formally referred to as the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 16), it serves too as the 6th meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 6).source
  • 2012The Séléka overthrows the government of the Central African Republic which leads to the outbreak of a Civil war.source
  • 2012December 6–16 – The 2012 FIFA Club World Cup is held in Japan and won by Sport Club Corinthians Paulista.source
  • 2016the Hitrino train derailment, killing at least seven peoplesource
  • 2019December 2–13 – The 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference takes place in Madrid, Spain, after Chilean President Sebastián Piñera announced in October that his country could not host the conference due to political unrest in the country.source
  • 2019Ostrava hospital attack: In Ostrava, a man opens fire in a hospital's waiting room, killing six people before fleeing and subsequently shooting himself dead.source
  • 2020Western Sahara conflict, Arab–Israeli conflict: Israel and Morocco normalise diplomatic relations. Simultaneously, the United States reaffirms its previous recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara and announces plans to build a consulate there.source
  • 2020The Water and Sewer Authority and for Puerto Rico gets refinancing for $1.4 billion worth of bonds, which should result in a $13 million annual savings for the utility.source
  • 2020COVID-19 pandemic: The United States and Saudi Arabia approve the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, while Argentina approves Sputnik V.source
  • 2020The Nicolas Sarkozy corruption trial concludes in France.source
  • 2021December 10–December 11 – A late season tornado outbreak occurs in the Southern and Midwestern United States, causing major damage and killing at least 94 people. One of the longest-tracked tornadoes in history occurred, which impacted western Kentucky, particularly Mayfield.source
  • 2023December 10–12 – 2023 Egyptian presidential election: Incumbent President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi wins a third term with 89.6 percent of the vote in the election.source

Births

  • 553Houzhu, emperor of the Chen dynasty (died 604)source
  • 1452Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician (died 1531)source
  • 1472Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk (died 1481)source
  • 1489Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours (died 1512)source
  • 1489Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours.(d.1512)source
  • 1538Giovanni Battista Guarini, Italian poet (died 1612)source
  • 1582William Chappell, Irish bishop (died 1649)source
  • 1588Isaac Beeckman, Dutch philosopher and scientist (died 1637)source
  • 1607Kjeld Stub, priest (died 1663)source
  • 1610Adriaen van Ostade, Dutch painter (died 1685)source
  • 1637Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville, Marquis de Denonville (died 1710)source
  • 1650Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon (died 1701)source
  • 1654Giovanni Gioseffo dal Sole, Italian painter (died 1719)source
  • 1658Lancelot Blackburne, Archbishop of York (died 1743)source
  • 1664John Williams, American clergy (died 1729)source
  • 1753Richard Thomas, Anglican priest and antiquarian (died 1780)source
  • 1777William Conner, American trader, politician (died 1855)source
  • 1781Christian Hersleb Horneman, jurist and politician (died 1860).source
  • 1787Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, American educator (died 1851)source
  • 1805William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist (died 1879)source
  • 1815Ada Lovelace, English computer pioneer, daughter of Lord Byron (died 1852)source
  • 1822César Franck, Belgian composer, organist (died 1890)source
  • 1824George MacDonald, Scottish writer (died 1905)source
  • 1830Emily Dickinson, American poet (died 1886)source
  • 1851Melvil Dewey, American librarian, inventor of Dewey Decimal Classification (died 1931)source
  • 1878C. Rajagopalachari, Indian politician, freedom fighter (died 1972)source
  • 1891Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, British field marshal (died 1969)source
  • 1956Rod Blagojevich, American politician and convicted felon, Governor of Illinois (2003–2009)source
  • 1966Kirsten Gillibrand, American politician; United States Senator (D-NY)source

Deaths

  • 125Shao (or Liu Yi), Chinese emperorsource
  • 362Gemellus of Ancyra, Byzantine Orthodox bishop and saintsource
  • 925Sancho I, king of Pamplonasource
  • 949Herman I, duke of Swabiasource
  • 990Folcmar (Poppo), bishop of Utrechtsource
  • 1041Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian dies after a 6-year reign. His wife, Empress Zoë, elevates (on the advice of her lover John the Orphanotrophos) her adoptive son to the throne of the Byzantine Empire, as Michael V Kalaphates. Shortly after, Michael comes into conflict with his uncle John, and banishes him to a monastery.source
  • 1041Michael IV the Paphlagonian, Byzantine emperor (born 1010)source
  • 1081Nikephoros III, Byzantine emperorsource
  • 1113Fakhr al-Mulk Radwan, Seljuk rulersource
  • 1249Choe U, Korean military leader (born 1166)source
  • 1307Theodoric IV, the ruler of the semi-independent states of Lusatia, Osterland and Thuringia, is murdered at Leipzig by Philip of Nassau. Theodoric is succeeded by Frederick the Brave as ruler of Thuringia and by Otto IV of Brandenburg as ruler of Lusatia. The areas are now part of eastern Germany.source
  • 1310Stephen I, Duke of Bavaria, one of the three brothers ruling the southern German duchy within the Roman Empire, dies, leaving his older brothers Otto III and Louis III as the dual rulers.source
  • 1362Frederick III, Duke of Austria, second son of Duke Albert II of Austria (born 1347)source
  • 1363Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulstersource
  • 1454Ignatius Behnam Hadloyo, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch.source
  • 1475Paolo Uccello, Italian painter (born 1397)source
  • 1481Charles IV of Anjou, nobleman from House of Valois-Anjou (born 1446)source
  • 1508René II, Duke of Lorraine (born 1451)source
  • 1541Thomas Culpeper, English courtier, lover of Catherine Howard (born c. 1514)source
  • 1561Caspar Schwenckfeld, German theologiansource
  • 1591Four Roman Catholic priests and three laymen are executed in England in a campaign against the Roman Catholic Church.source
  • 1610John Roberts, Welsh Benedictine monk and priest (born 1577)source
  • 1618Giulio Caccini, Italian composer (born 1551)source
  • 1636Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim, Irish leadersource
  • 1643Herman Wrangel, military officersource
  • 1679Francesco Barberini, Italian Catholic cardinal (born 1597)source
  • 1679More than 200 captives on the ship The Crown of London, all Scottish Covenanters arrested after the battle of Bothwell Bridge, are killed when the ship is wrecked on the Orkney Islands while transporting the group to exile in North America.source
  • 1718Stede Bonnet, Barbadian "gentleman pirate" (hanged) (born 1688)source
  • 1725Nicolaas Hartsoeker, Dutch mathematician and physicist (born 1656)source
  • 1736António Manoel de Vilhena, Portuguese 66th Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (born 1663)source
  • 1776Robert Hay Drummond, Archbishop of York (born 1711)source
  • 1865King Leopold I of Belgium (born 1790)source
  • 1896Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor of dynamite, creator of the Nobel Prize (born 1833)source
  • 1911Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, English botanist (born 1817)source
  • 1929Harry Crosby, American publisher, poet (born 1898)source
  • 1935Pío Romero Bosque, politician (born 1860)source
  • 1948Na Hye-sok:Korean paintersource
  • 1999Franjo Tuđman, 77, Croatian politician, President of Croatia (since 1990), cancer.source
  • 2006Augusto Pinochet, 91, Chilean president (1973–1990), complications from heart attack.source