On this day: May 10

Events on May 10

• 1503 Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous turtles there. Wikipedia
• 1591 Elizabeth I is entertained by the Hermit's Welcome at Theobalds. Wikipedia
• 1773 The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by reducing taxes on its tea and granting it the right to sell tea directly to North America. The legislation leads to the Boston Tea Party. Wikipedia
• 1775 American Revolutionary War: A small force of Patriots led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold captured Fort Ticonderoga in New York, without significant injury or incident. Wikipedia
• 1775 American Revolutionary War: Delegates from the Thirteen Colonies met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to convene the Second Continental Congress, which would serve as the de facto national government of the future United States. Wikipedia
• 1775 American Revolutionary War: The Second Continental Congress takes place in Philadelphia. Wikipedia
• 1796 War of the First Coalition: Napoleon wins a victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the Adda River in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men. Wikipedia
• 1801 First Barbary War: The Barbary corsairs of Tripoli declared war on the United States by cutting down the flagstaff in front of the U.S. consulate. Wikipedia
• 1865 American Civil War: In Kentucky, Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate raider William Quantrill, who lingers until his death on June 6. Wikipedia
• 1876 The Centennial Exposition is opened in Philadelphia. Wikipedia
• 1924 J. Edgar Hoover is appointed first Director of the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and remains so until his death in 1972. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: German forces commenced their invasion of Belgium. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: German fighters accidentally bomb the German city of Freiburg. Wikipedia
• 1940 British prime minister Neville Chamberlain resigned and formally recommended Winston Churchill as his successor. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain. On the same day, Germany invades France, The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom occupies Iceland. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: German Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess parachuted into Scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace with the British government. Wikipedia
• 1961 Air France Flight 406 is destroyed by a bomb over the Sahara, killing 78. Wikipedia
• 1993 In Thailand, a fire at the Kader Toy Factory kills over 200 workers. Wikipedia
• 1994 Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black president. Wikipedia
• 1996 A blizzard strikes Mount Everest, killing eight climbers by the next day. Wikipedia
• 1997 The 7.3 Mw Qayen earthquake strikes Iran's Khorasan Province killing 1,567 people. Wikipedia
• 2005 Vladimir Arutyunian attempted to assassinate U.S. president George W. Bush and Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi using a hand grenade, which failed to detonate. Wikipedia
• 2005 A hand grenade thrown by Vladimir Arutyunian lands about 20 m from U.S. President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctions and does not detonate. Wikipedia
• 2012 Suicide bombers detonated two car bombs outside a military intelligence complex in Damascus, killing 55 people. Wikipedia
• 2012 The Damascus bombings are carried out using a pair of car bombs detonated by suicide bombers outside a military intelligence complex in Damascus, Syria, killing 55 people. Wikipedia
• 2022 Queen Elizabeth II misses the State Opening of Parliament for the first time in 59 years. It was the first time that a new session of Parliament was opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge acting as Counsellors of State. Wikipedia

Born on May 10

• 1727 Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune, French economist and politician (died 1781) Wikipedia
• 1760 Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, French captain, engineer, and composer (died 1836) Wikipedia
• 1788 Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist and engineer (died 1827) Wikipedia
• 1838 John Wilkes Booth, American actor, assassin of Abraham Lincoln (died 1865) Wikipedia
• 1843 Benito Pérez Galdós, Spanish author and playwright (died 1920) Wikipedia
• 1878 Gustav Stresemann, German journalist and politician, Chancellor of Germany, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1929) Wikipedia
• 1879 Symon Petliura, Ukrainian journalist and politician (died 1926) Wikipedia
• 1886 Karl Barth, Swiss theologian and author (died 1968) Wikipedia
• 1890 Alfred Jodl, German general (died 1946) Wikipedia
• 1899 Fred Astaire, American actor, singer, and dancer (died 1987) Wikipedia
• 1900 Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, English-American astronomer and astrophysicist (died 1979) Wikipedia
• 1903 Otto Bradfisch, German economist, jurist, and SS officer (died 1994) Wikipedia
• 1923 Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan general and politician, President of Azerbaijan (died 2003) Wikipedia
• 1928 Arnold Rüütel, Estonian agronomist and politician, President of Estonia (died 2024) Wikipedia
• 1930 George E. Smith, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2025) Wikipedia
• 1957 Sid Vicious, English singer and bass player (died 1979) Wikipedia
• 1958 Rick Santorum, American lawyer and politician, United States Senator from Pennsylvania Wikipedia
• 1959 Cindy Hyde-Smith, American politician, United States Senator from Mississippi Wikipedia
• 1960 Dean Heller, American lawyer and politician, United States Senator from Nevada Wikipedia
• 1960 Bono, Irish singer-songwriter, musician and activist Wikipedia
• 1969 Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1997 Richarlison, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia

Died on May 10

• 1403 Katherine Swynford, widow of John of Gaunt Wikipedia
• 1521 Sebastian Brant, German author (born 1457) Wikipedia
• 1774 Louis XV, King of France (born 1710) Wikipedia
• 1794 Élisabeth of France, French princess and youngest sibling of Louis XVI (born 1764) Wikipedia
• 1798 George Vancouver, English navigator and explorer (born 1757) Wikipedia
• 1829 Thomas Young, English physician and linguist (born 1773) Wikipedia
• 1849 Hokusai, Japanese painter and illustrator (born 1760) Wikipedia
• 1863 Stonewall Jackson, American general (born 1824) Wikipedia
• 1889 Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian journalist, author, and playwright (born 1826) Wikipedia
• 1945 Richard Glücks, German SS officer (born 1889) Wikipedia
• 1977 Joan Crawford, American actress (year of birth disputed) Wikipedia
• 1982 Peter Weiss, German playwright and painter (born 1916) Wikipedia
• 2021 Pauline Tinsley, British soprano (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2022 Leonid Kravchuk, Ukrainian politician (born 1934) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Children's Day (Maldives) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Alphius, Philadelphus and Cyrinus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Beatrice d'Este Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Calepodius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Catald Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Comgall Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Damien of Molokai Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Ivan Merz Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Job (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John of Ávila Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Solange of Bourges Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: May 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Confederate Memorial Day (North Carolina and South Carolina) Wikipedia
• Constitution Day (Micronesia) Wikipedia
• Earliest possible day on which Pentecost can fall, while June 13 is the latest; celebrated 50 days after Easter Day. (Christianity) Wikipedia
• Golden Spike Day (Promontory, Utah) Wikipedia
• Mother's Day (Guatemala, and Mexico) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “May 10” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.