AUGUST 10

• 612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire. Destruction of Nineveh.
• 955 - Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeats Magyars, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West.
• 1492 - Alexander VI is elected Pope.
• 1519 - Ferdinand Magellan's 5 ships set sail from Seville to circumnavigate the globe.
• 1792 - French Revolution: Louis XVI of France is arrested and taken into custody.
• 1809 - Ecuador declares independence from Spain.
• 1821 - Missouri is admitted as the 24th U.S. state.
• 1846 - The Smithsonian Institution is chartered by the United States Congress after $500,000 was given for such a purpose by scientist Joseph Smithson.
• 1856 - In Louisiana, a hurricane kills about 400 people.
• 1861 - American Civil War: Battle of Wilson's Creek - The war enters Missouri when a band of raw Confederate troops defeat Union forces in the southwestern part of the state.
• 1877 - Asaph Hall discovers Deimos.
• 1893 - At Augsburg, Rudolf Diesel's prime model ran on its own power for the first time. Because of this, August 10 is the International Biodiesel Day.
• 1913 - Second Balkan War ends: Delegates from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece sign the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the war.
• 1920 - World War I: Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI's representatives signed the Treaty of Sevres which divides up the Ottoman Empire between the Allies.
• 1944 - World War II: American forces defeat the last Japanese troops on Guam.
• 1945 - World War II: Japan agrees to the Potsdam Conference terms of unconditional surrender, ending the war.
• 1948 - Candid Camera makes its television after being on radio for a year as Candid Microphone.
• 1949 - US President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Bill, streamlining the defense agencies of the United States government, and replacing the National Military Establishment with the United States Department of Defense.
• 1954 - At Messena, New York, the ground breaking ceremony for the St. Lawrence Seaway is held.
• 1969 - A day after murdering Sharon Tate and four others, members Charles Manson's cult kill Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.
• 1977 - In Yonkers, New York, 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam") is arrested for a series of killings in the New York City area over a year's period.
• 1981 - The head of John Walsh's son Adam is found in Hollywood, Florida. This event will later prompt the United States Congress to pass the Missing Children's Act, giving the Federal Bureau of Investigation greater authority to track the disappearance of children. It also makes Walsh a national spokesman against crime and eventually leads to the establishment of America's Most Wanted.
• 1988 - Japanese American Internment: US President Ronald Reagan signs the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, providing $20,000 payments to Japanese-Americans who were either interned or relocated by in the United States during World War II.
• 1990 - The Magellan space probe reaches Venus.
• 1995 - Oklahoma City bombing: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols are indicted for the bombing. Michael Fortier pleads guilty in a plea-bargain agreement for his testimony.

Births

• 1397 - Albert II of Habsburg, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire
• 1821 - Jay Cooke, financier (+ 1905)
• 1874 - Herbert Hoover, President of the United States (+ 1964)
• 1898 - Jack Haley, actor (+ 1979)
• 1900 - Wolfgang Pauli, physicist (+ 1958)
• 1902 - Norma Shearer, actress (+ 1983)
• 1902 - Curt Siodmak, science fiction author (+ 2000)
• 1912 - Jorge Amado, novelist
• 1923 - Rhonda Fleming, actress
• 1928 - Jimmy Dean, country and western singer
• 1940 - Bobby Hatfield, singer, the Righteous Brothers
• 1943 - Ronnie Spector, singer
• 1947 - Ian Anderson, musician (Jethro Tull)
• 1960 - Antonio Banderas, actor
• 1967 - Riddick Bowe, world champion boxer
• 1976 - Dave Whiting, Cynthia's husband

Deaths

• 612 BC - Sinsharishkun, Assyrian king
• 258 - Saint Lawrence, martyr
• 1653 - Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral
• 1862 - Shusaku Honinbo, Go player
• 1945 - Robert Goddard, rocket scientist
• 1963 - Estes Kefauver, United States Senator from Tennessee
• 1997 - Conlon Nancarrow, composer
• 2002 - Kristen Nygaard, computer scientist

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire - Festival in honor of Ops
• Ancient Latvia - Labrenca Diena held

August 9 - August 11 - July 10 - September 10 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December