On this day: October 10

Events on October 10

• 415 The second church structure of Hagia Sophia was inaugurated. Wikipedia
• 680 Husayn ibn Ali, a grandson of Muhammad, was killed at the Battle of Karbala by the forces of Yazid I, whom Husayn had refused to recognize as caliph. Wikipedia
• 732 Charles Martel's forces defeat an Umayyad army near Tours, France. Wikipedia
• 1760 In a treaty with Dutch colonial authorities, the Ndyuka people of Suriname gained territorial autonomy. Wikipedia
• 1780 The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000–30,000 in the Caribbean. Wikipedia
• 1846 English astronomer William Lassell discovered Triton, the largest moon of Neptune. Wikipedia
• 1868 The Ten Years' War begins against Spanish rule in Cuba. Wikipedia
• 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union, a militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. Wikipedia
• 1911 The Xinhai Revolution began with the Wuchang Uprising, marking the beginning of the collapse of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China. Wikipedia
• 1913 U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike, completing major construction on the Panama Canal. Wikipedia
• 1920 The Carinthian plebiscite determines that the larger part of the Duchy of Carinthia should remain part of Austria. Wikipedia
• 1928 Chiang Kai-shek becomes Chairman of the Republic of China. Wikipedia
• 1933 In the first proven act of sabotage in the history of commercial aviation, a Boeing 247 operated by United Airlines exploded in mid-air near Chesterton, Indiana, killing all seven people aboard. Wikipedia
• 1938 Abiding by the Munich Agreement, Czechoslovakia completes its withdrawal from the Sudetenland. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: The Kempeitai, the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army, arrested and tortured fifty-seven civilians and civilian internees on suspicion of their involvement in a raid on Singapore Harbour. Wikipedia
• 1963 The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibits all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground, went into effect. Wikipedia
• 1964 The Tokyo Summer Olympics opening ceremony is the first to be relayed live by satellites. Wikipedia
• 1967 The Outer Space Treaty comes into force. Wikipedia
• 1970 Canada's October Crisis escalates when Quebec Vice Premier Pierre Laporte is kidnapped by members of the Front de libération du Québec. Wikipedia
• 1973 U.S. vice president Spiro Agnew resigned after being charged with tax evasion. Wikipedia
• 1975 Papua New Guinea joins the United Nations. Wikipedia
• 1992 After 20 years of construction, Vidyasagar Setu, the longest cable-stayed bridge in India, opened, joining Kolkata and Howrah. Wikipedia
• 2004 Eight-year-old Huang Na was abducted and murdered; her body was found three weeks later after a search across Singapore and Malaysia. Wikipedia
• 2007 Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor becomes the first Malaysian in space on board Soyuz TMA-11. Wikipedia
• 2015 Twin bomb blasts in the Turkish capital Ankara kill 109 and injure 500+. Wikipedia
• 2018 Hurricane Michael makes landfall in the Florida Panhandle as a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane. It kills 57 people in the United States, 45 in Florida, and causes an estimated $25.1 billion in damage. Wikipedia

Born on October 10

• 19 Tiberius Gemellus, Roman son of Drusus Julius Caesar and Livilla; adoptive son of the Emperor Caligula (died 38) Wikipedia
• 1684 Jean-Antoine Watteau, French painter (died 1721) Wikipedia
• 1731 Henry Cavendish, French-English chemist, physicist, and philosopher (died 1810) Wikipedia
• 1813 Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer and philanthropist (died 1901) Wikipedia
• 1825 Paul Kruger, South African soldier and politician, 5th President of the South African Republic (died 1904) Wikipedia
• 1830 Isabella II of Spain (died 1904) Wikipedia
• 1834 Aleksis Kivi, Finnish author and playwright (died 1872) Wikipedia
• 1861 Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian explorer, scientist, and humanitarian, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1930) Wikipedia
• 1900 Helen Hayes, American actress (died 1993) Wikipedia
• 1901 Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor and painter (died 1966) Wikipedia
• 1906 R. K. Narayan, Indian author (died 2001) Wikipedia
• 1908 Mercè Rodoreda, Catalan author and poet (died 1983) Wikipedia
• 1913 Claude Simon, Malagasy-French novelist and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2005) Wikipedia
• 1917 Thelonious Monk, American pianist and composer (died 1982) Wikipedia
• 1930 Harold Pinter, English playwright, screenwriter, director Nobel Prize laureate (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1930 Yves Chauvin, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2015) Wikipedia
• 1936 Gerhard Ertl, German physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1946 Naoto Kan, Japanese lawyer and politician, 61st Prime Minister of Japan Wikipedia
• 1946 Charles Dance, English actor, director, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1954 Rekha, Indian actress Wikipedia
• 1967 Gavin Newsom, American businessman and politician, 40th and current Governor of California Wikipedia
• 1991 Xherdan Shaqiri, Swiss footballer Wikipedia

Died on October 10

• 19 Germanicus, Roman general (born 15 BC) Wikipedia
• 680 Husayn ibn Ali, third Shia Imam and grandson of Muhammad (born 626) Wikipedia
• 827 Pope Valentine (born 800) Wikipedia
• 1659 Abel Tasman, Dutch merchant and explorer (born 1603) Wikipedia
• 1827 Ugo Foscolo, Italian author and poet (born 1778) Wikipedia
• 1837 Charles Fourier, French philosopher and academic (born 1772) Wikipedia
• 1963 Édith Piaf, French singer-songwriter and actress (born 1915) Wikipedia
• 1970 Édouard Daladier, French captain and politician, 105th Prime Minister of France (born 1884) Wikipedia
• 1973 Ludwig von Mises, Ukrainian-American economist and sociologist (born 1881) Wikipedia
• 1985 Orson Welles, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1915) Wikipedia
• 1985 Yul Brynner, Russian-American actor (born 1920) Wikipedia
• 2000 Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (born 1916) Wikipedia
• 2004 Christopher Reeve, American actor, producer, and activist (born 1952) Wikipedia
• 2005 Milton Obote, Ugandan politician, 2nd President of Uganda (born 1925) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Aleksis Kivi Day, also known as the Finnish Literature Day (Finland) Wikipedia
• Arbor Day (Poland) Wikipedia
• Army Day (Sri Lanka) Wikipedia
• Capital Liberation Day (Vietnam) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Mary Angela Truszkowska Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Cerbonius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Daniele Comboni Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Edward Detkens Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Eulampius and Eulampia Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Gereon and companions Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed María Catalina Irigoyen Echegaray (Maria Desposorios) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Paulinus of York Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pinytus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Tanca Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Vida Dutton Scudder (Episcopal Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Viktor of Xanten Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: October 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Constitution Day (Sint Maarten) Wikipedia
• Curaçao Day, anniversary of autonomy Wikipedia
• Double Ten Day (The National Day of Republic of China), celebrates outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising in 1911 that led to founding of the Republic of China in 1912 Wikipedia
• Fiji Day (Fiji) Wikipedia
• Independence Day (Cuba) Wikipedia
• Party Foundation Day (North Korea) Wikipedia
• World Day Against the Death Penalty Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “October 10” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/October 10” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “October 10” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for October 10 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.