10th December — Human Rights Day & Nobel Prize Day
Welcome to 10th December! It's Human Rights Day and Nobel Prize Day. Explore 53 historical events, birthdays, deaths, and milestones that shaped this day. From remarkable moments in local and world history to the people who left their mark — find out what makes today special. Tonight's moon is in its waxing crescent phase, and the zodiac sign of the day is Sagittarius. If you're curious about the history of a day — this page brings together everything worth knowing about this 10th December.
Wednesday, 10 December falls under the zodiac sign of Sagittarius, characterised by traits of optimism and exploration. The moon is in its waxing crescent phase, a period traditionally associated with new beginnings and intention-setting. This date carries historical significance as both Human Rights Day and Nobel Prize Day, anchoring it in global observances of achievement and fundamental freedoms.
On this day
On 10 December 1936, King Edward VIII signed the instrument of abdication to renounce the British throne in favour of his brother George VI. His decision to relinquish the crown rather than end his relationship with American socialite Wallis Simpson sparked one of the most significant constitutional crises in British history, reshaping the monarchy and public understanding of royal duty.
The same date saw two pivotal moments in the 20th century's struggle for democracy and human rights. In 1983, Raúl Alfonsín became the first democratically elected president of Argentina to take office following more than seven years of military dictatorship, marking a crucial transition toward democratic governance in South America. Similarly, on 10 December 1989, journalist Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announced the formation of the Mongolian Democratic Union at the first open pro-democracy demonstration in Mongolia, an act that would prove instrumental in dismantling communist rule within four months.
Human Rights Day
Human Rights Day commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948. The day marks the foundation of international human rights standards and is observed annually to promote awareness of fundamental freedoms and dignity. The declaration was established in response to atrocities committed during the Second World War and remains the most widely recognised statement of human rights globally. Each year, the day serves as a focal point for governments, organisations and individuals to assess progress and address ongoing violations.
Nobel Prize Day
Nobel Prize Day celebrates the annual presentation of the Nobel Prizes, which have been awarded on 10 December since 1901. The date coincides with the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death and represents the culmination of the prizes that recognise outstanding contributions to physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. The ceremony takes place in Stockholm's Concert Hall, with the Peace Prize awarded separately in Oslo. The tradition has continued for over a century, establishing the Nobel Prize as the world's most prestigious international award across multiple disciplines.
DayAtlas provides comprehensive information for any date and location, displaying weather conditions, historical events, and notable births and deaths. Users can explore what happened on specific dates whilst understanding the atmospheric and astronomical context of those moments in time.
Explore everything about today 25th June.
Patterns invisible today become obvious only through patient observation.
Fortune of the Day
10th December in the Stars – Star Sign Sagittarius
Personality Profile
Personality Those born on December 10 blend Sagittarius boldness with the rare Master Number 22, granting them visionary depth. They walk between philosophical wisdom and practical creation, driven to understand the world and transform it into something meaningful.
Strengths & Weaknesses Their greatest strength is converting expansive ideas into concrete achievements. However, ambitious goals can breed impatience and burnout when reality fails to match idealistic expectations, making grounding essential.
Love These natives seek partners who share their intellectual hunger and respect their freedom. They love intensely and authentically, yet require regular space for personal adventure and spiritual growth.
Caree & Finance Teaching, philosophy, entrepreneurship, and spiritual projects suit them well. Their ability to manifest visions makes them valuable leaders whose financial stability follows naturally from their focused drive.
Health They thrive through adventurous physical activities: hiking, travel, martial arts. Mental restlessness can cause sleep issues; meditation and clear work boundaries protect their psychological equilibrium.
That night, the moon was in its waxing crescent phase.
Chinese year of the Snake (Wood).
Fun Facts About 10th December
Name Days in Your Language: Emely, Emilee, Emilia, Emilie, Emily, Eula, Eulalia, Ula
Someone born on this day would be just 197 days old today — roughly 4,744 hours, 284,679 minutes, or 17,080,755 seconds spent on Earth so far.
It's the 344. day of the year. In 2025, 10th December falls on a Wednesday.
There are 21 days still to come.
We’re currently in Week 50 — the year marches on.
Famous Birthdays on 10th December
On this day, 212 notable people were born on 10th December — spanning from 553 to 2000. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.
10/12/2000
Jeremie Frimpong, Dutch footballer
Jeremie Agyekum Frimpong is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a right-back or right midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team.
10/12/1999
Reiss Nelson, English footballer
Reiss Luke Nelson is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Brentford, on loan from Arsenal.
10/12/1998
Lucia Bronzetti, Italian tennis player
Lucia Bronzetti is an Italian professional tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of No. 46 in singles, achieved on 8 April 2024, and No. 170 in doubles. She has played three finals and won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2023 Morocco Open, and has also reached nine singles finals on the ITF Women's Circuit, of which she won five. Bronzetti was a member of the Italian squad which reaching three finals in a row and won the 2024 and the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup.
10/12/1997
Viktoriia Savtsova, Ukrainian Paralympic swimmer
Viktoriia Savtsova is a Ukrainian Paralympic swimmer.
10/12/1996
Joe Burrow, American football player
Joseph Lee Burrow is an American professional football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). After three seasons of college football with the Ohio State Buckeyes, he played two seasons for the LSU Tigers, winning the Heisman Trophy and the College Football Playoff National Championship as a senior. He was selected by the Bengals first overall in the 2020 NFL draft.
Kang Daniel, South Korean singer and entrepreneur
Kang Daniel, stylized as KANGDANIEL, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, actor, television host, and businessman who rose to fame in early 2017 as the first-place winner of the second season of reality competition series Produce 101. He is a former member of the show's resulting boy group Wanna One that, at the time, was a major power player in the K-pop industry.
10/12/1995
Tacko Fall, Senegalese basketball player
El Hadji Tacko Sereigne Diop Fall is a Senegalese professional basketball player for the Ningbo Rockets of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He has previously played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers.
10/12/1994
Richard Kennar, Samoan rugby league player
Richard Kennar is a Samoan professional rugby league footballer who last played as a winger and centre for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL.
Matti Klinga, Finnish footballer
Matti Klinga is a Finnish footballer currently playing for Reipas Lahti.
10/12/1992
Carlos Rodón, American baseball player
Carlos Antonio Rodón is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants. Rodón is a three-time MLB All-Star.
Melissa Roxburgh, Canadian-American actress
Melissa Roxburgh is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2011) and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012), Supernatural (2014), The Marine 4: Moving Target (2015), Star Trek Beyond (2016), Valor (2017–2018), Mindcage (2022), and as Michaela Stone in the NBC/Netflix science fiction drama series Manifest (2018–2023). Since January 2025, she leads the television series The Hunting Party as FBI agent Rebecca "Bex" Henderson.
10/12/1991
KiKi Layne, American actress
Kiandra "KiKi" Layne is an American actress. She is known for her film roles in the romantic drama If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), the drama Native Son (2019), the action superhero film The Old Guard (2020), the romantic comedy Coming 2 America (2021), and the psychological thriller Don't Worry Darling (2022).
Eric Reid, American football player
Eric Todd Reid Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for LSU Tigers, receiving consensus All-American recognition. He was selected in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers, with whom he made the 2014 Pro Bowl.
Dion Waiters, American basketball player
Dion Waiters Jr. is an American former professional basketball player who played 8 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2012 to 2020. He played college basketball for the Syracuse Orange and was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Waiters also played for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Miami Heat, and the Los Angeles Lakers, where his team won an NBA championship.
10/12/1990
Kazenga LuaLua, Congolese-English footballer
Kazenga LuaLua is an English–Congolese professional footballer who plays for Rimal Al-Sahra as a winger.
Sakiko Matsui, Japanese singer and actress
Sakiko Matsui is a Japanese singer and pianist. She was a member of AKB48. Concurrently as a student specializing in piano at Tokyo College of Music, she has released a piano instrumental album Kokyū Suru Piano on October 3, 2012, which reached number 10 on Oricon's albums chart.
Wil Myers, American baseball player
William Bradford Myers is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, and Cincinnati Reds.
Teyana Taylor, American singer, songwriter, choreographer, and actress
Teyana Me Shay Jacqueline Taylor is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, choreographer, and music video director. Her accolades include a Golden Globe Award, two Critics Choice Awards, and an NAACP Image Award, along with nominations for an Academy Award, two Actor Awards, a British Academy Film Award, and a Grammy Award. She was named one of Time's 2026 Women of the Year.
Shoya Tomizawa, Japanese motorcycle racer (died 2010)
Shoya Tomizawa was a Japanese motorcycle racer. After a successful career in the All Japan Road Race Championship, he switched to MotoGP and competed in the 250cc class during 2009. In the 2010 season, he rode in the newly created Moto2 class. Tomizawa won the first race of the new class, at Losail in Qatar, winning by nearly five seconds from Alex Debón and Jules Cluzel. Tomizawa died after sustaining cranial, thoracic and abdominal trauma at the San Marino Grand Prix.
10/12/1989
Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, French politician
Marion Jeanne Caroline Maréchal, known as Marion Maréchal-Le Pen from 2010 to 2018, is a French politician who has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2024. She is part of the Le Pen family, as the granddaughter of National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen and niece of its later leader Marine Le Pen.
Tom Sexton, Australian-Irish rugby player
Tom Sexton is a professional rugby union player who plays for The Western Force in the Super Rugby competition. His usual position is hooker.
10/12/1988
Wilfried Bony, Ivorian footballer
Wilfried Guemiand Bony is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Neven Subotić, Serbian footballer
Neven Subotić is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, he played for the Serbia national team.
10/12/1987
Gonzalo Higuaín, French-Argentinian footballer
Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who is a player development coach for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Nicknamed El Pipita or Pipa, he was a prolific striker known for his eye for goal, strong physique, offensive movements and predatory finishing. Considered to be one of the best strikers of his generation, he won six European league titles across La Liga and Serie A.
10/12/1986
Kahlil Bell, American football player
Kahlil Edward Bell is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins. Bell was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He was also a member of the Chicago Bears, New York Jets and Green Bay Packers.
10/12/1985
Charlie Adam, Scottish footballer
Charles Graham Adam is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently the set-piece coach at Everton. Prior to that, he was the manager of EFL League Two club Fleetwood Town.
Roman Červenka, Czech ice hockey player
Roman Červenka is a Czech professional ice hockey player who is a centre for HC Dynamo Pardubice of the Czech Extraliga (ELH). He formerly played for Piráti Chomutov and Slavia Praha of the Czech Extraliga, Avangard Omsk, Lev Praha and SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He was the leading goal scorer in the KHL in 2010–11 and was named to the All-Star team in 2011–12 before moving to North America after signing a contract with the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Calgary Flames. He played 39 games in the NHL during the 2012–13 season before returning to Europe.
Matt Forte, American football player
Matthew Garrett Forte is an American former professional football player who was a running back for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tulane Green Wave and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft. Forte established himself as a dual-threat running back capable of earning yards as a rusher and receiver. He is one of only three players to record at least 1,000 rushing yards and 100 receptions in a single season. Forte spent eight seasons with the Bears before playing for the New York Jets for two seasons.
Trésor Mputu, Congolese footballer
Trésor Mputu Mabi is a Congolese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Raven-Symoné, American actress, singer, and dancer
Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman-Maday, also known as simply Raven, is an American actress, singer, and director. She has received several accolades, including five NAACP Image Awards, two Kids' Choice Awards, three Young Artist Awards, and five Emmy Award nominations. In 2012, she was included on VH1's list of "100 Greatest Child Stars of All Time".
Lê Công Vinh, Vietnamese footballer
Lê Công Vinh is a Vietnamese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was part of the Vietnam national team between 2004 and 2016. Considered one of the greatest players in Vietnamese football's history, Công Vinh is the all time top scorer for the Vietnam national team, won the 2008 AFF Championship, and received three Vietnamese Golden Ball Awards.
10/12/1984
JTG, American wrestler
Jayson Anthony Paul is an American professional wrestler best known for his time in WWE under the ring name JTG.
10/12/1983
Patrick Flueger, American actor
Patrick John Flueger is an American actor, first known for a principal role as Shawn Farrell in the television series The 4400. He currently appears in a lead role on Chicago P.D., playing Adam Ruzek.
Xavier Samuel, Australian actor
Xavier Samuel is an Australian film and theatre actor. He has appeared in leading roles in the feature films Adore, September, Further We Search, Newcastle, The Loved Ones, Frankenstein, A Few Best Men, and played Riley Biers in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and Billy in Spin Out. He also starred as Cass Chaplin in Blonde.
10/12/1982
Claudia Hoffmann, German sprinter
Claudia Hoffmann is a German sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. She represents SC Potsdam and trains under Frank Möller.
Sultan Kösen, Turkish farmer, tallest living person
Sultan Kösen is a Turkish farmer who holds the Guinness World Record for tallest living person at 251 cm.
10/12/1981
Taufik Batisah, Singaporean singer
Muhammad Taufik bin Batisah is a Singaporean singer-songwriter best known for winning the first season of the reality TV series Singapore Idol.
Rene Bourque, Canadian ice hockey player
Rene Gary Wayne Bourque is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who was a right winger in the National Hockey League (NHL). An undrafted player, Bourque was signed by the Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent in 2004 and made his NHL debut in 2005–06. He spent three years in Chicago before a 2008 trade sent him to the Calgary Flames where he established himself as a key offensive player. He was traded to the Montreal Canadiens before stints with the Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche.
Fábio Rochemback, Brazilian footballer
Fábio Rochemback is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
10/12/1980
Sarah Chang, American violinist
Sarah Chang is a Korean American classical violinist. Recognized as a child prodigy, she first played as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1989. She enrolled at Juilliard School to study music, graduated in 1999. Especially during the 1990s and early to mid-2000s, Chang had major roles as a soloist with many of the world's major orchestras.
10/12/1979
Matt Bentley, American wrestler
Matthew James Bentley, is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) by the ring name Michael Shane, later changed to "Maverick" Matt Bentley. He was trained by his cousin, Shawn Michaels, and he took the name Michael Shane, a play on his cousin's name, originating from Michaels' guest appearance in Pacific Blue. Additionally, Bentley utilizes Michaels' signature superkick maneuver as his own finisher.
Iain Brunnschweiler, English cricketer
Iain Brunnschweiler is an English former professional cricketer, and semi-professional footballer. He played first-class cricket as a wicket-keeper for Hampshire between 2000 and 2003, and later coached cricket for both Hampshire and England, the latter at youth levels. He also played association football for A.F.C. Totton between 2005 and 2007, and later coached at Southampton until 2023.
Yang Jianping, Chinese recurve archer
Yang Jianping is a Chinese recurve archer.
10/12/1978
Anna Jesień, Polish hurdler
Anna Marta Jesień is a Polish former hurdler.
Summer Phoenix, American actress
Summer Phoenix is an American actress and musician. She is the youngest sibling of actors River, Rain, Joaquin, and Liberty Phoenix.
10/12/1976
Shane Byrne, English motorcycle racer
Shane Daniel Byrne, often known as Shakey, is a British professional motorcycle road racer. He is a six-time champion of the British Superbike Championship, the only man in the history of the series to win six titles. He has also been a double race winner in the Superbike World Championship and has competed in MotoGP.
10/12/1975
Steve Bradley, American wrestler (died 2008)
Steven James Bisson was an American professional wrestler who wrestled under the ring name Steve Bradley. He competed in various North American independent promotions as well as spending over three years in World Wrestling Entertainment developmental territories including Power Pro Wrestling, Heartland Wrestling Association, Memphis Championship Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling.
Emmanuelle Chriqui, Canadian actress
Emmanuelle Sophie Anne Chriqui is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for playing Sloan McQuewick on HBO's Entourage (2004–11), Claire Bonner in Snow Day (2000), Dalia in You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008), Lorelei Martins on CBS's The Mentalist (2013–15), and Lana Lang on The CW's Superman & Lois (2021–2024).
Josip Skoko, Australian footballer
Josip Skoko is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a central midfielder for North Geelong Warriors, Hajduk Split, Genk, Gençlerbirliği, Wigan Athletic, Stoke City and Melbourne Heart. Skoko has been described as a central midfielder with "superb on-ball ability, inch perfect passing, and his ability to turn defence to attack in an instant." Skoko is currently the Director of Football at North Geelong Warriors FC.
10/12/1974
Meg White, American drummer
Megan Martha White is an American musician who was the drummer and occasional vocalist of the rock duo the White Stripes. She was a key artist of the 2000s indie and garage rock movements, noted for her minimalist drumming style and reserved public persona. The White Stripes split up in 2011 after which she ceased performing. Her last media appearance was in 2009, and she has not been active in the music industry since.
10/12/1973
Rusty LaRue, American basketball player and coach
Rusty LaRue is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He was a multi-sport athlete who played basketball, baseball, and football at Wake Forest University. LaRue played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Chicago Bulls, Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors. He won an NBA championship with the Bulls in 1998.
Gabriela Spanic, Venezuelan actress
Gabriela Elena Španić Utrera, known simply as Gabriela Spanic or Gaby Spanic, is a Venezuelan actress, model, singer and beauty pageant titleholder. She is known for her roles in several Latin telenovelas, most notably her portrayal of twins in La usurpadora (1998), one of the most popular telenovelas in the Spanish-speaking world.
10/12/1972
Donavon Frankenreiter, American surfer, singer-songwriter, and guitarist
Donavon Frankenreiter is an American musician and surfer. His debut self-titled album was released in 2004 on Brushfire Records through Universal Music.
Brian Molko, British-Belgian singer-songwriter
Brian Molko is a British-American musician who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist of the band Placebo. He is known for his nasal voice and high registered vocals, feminine/androgynous appearance, aggressive guitar style and non-standard tunings.
10/12/1970
Kevin Sharp, American singer-songwriter (died 2014)
Kevin Grant Sharp was an American country music singer, author, and motivational speaker. Sharp came on the country music scene in 1996 with his first single: a cover of Tony Rich's "Nobody Knows", which topped the Billboard country chart for four weeks. The same year, Sharp released his first album, Measure of a Man. Having survived a form of bone cancer in his teenage years, Sharp became actively involved in the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He wrote an inspirational book about his life and his fight with cancer, and occasionally toured the United States as a motivational speaker. Sharp died from complications of stomach surgery in April 2014.
Bryant Stith, American basketball player and coach
Bryant Lamonica Stith is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently a men's assistant basketball coach at University of North Carolina Greensboro.
10/12/1969
Darren Berry, Australian cricketer and coach
Darren Shane Berry is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who was known for his sharp skills as a wicketkeeper, first with South Australia and then Victoria in the Sheffield Shield and ING Cup domestic competitions. He led the Redbacks to the first premiership win in 2010 of the BBL.
Rob Blake, Canadian ice hockey player and executive
Robert Bowlby Blake is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and currently the executive vice president of hockey operations for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally drafted by the Kings in 1988, appearing in the 1993 Stanley Cup Final, winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy and serving as team captain for five seasons in his initial 11-season stint with the club. In 2001, Blake was traded to the Colorado Avalanche and was a member of their 2001 Stanley Cup championship team. After a two-season return to Los Angeles, Blake signed with the San Jose Sharks in 2008, retiring as its captain after the 2009–10 season. Four years later, in 2014, Blake was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He won a second Stanley Cup as the assistant general manager of the Kings' front office in 2014.
10/12/1968
Yōko Oginome, Japanese singer, actress, and voice actress
Yōko Oginome , married name Yōko Tsujino , is a former pop idol, actress and voice actress, who gained popularity in the mid-1980s. Her fans often call her Oginome-chan. Her husband is Ryuso Tsujino. Oginome is affiliated with Rising Production.
10/12/1966
Rein Ahas, Estonian geographer and academic
Rein Ahas was an Estonian geographer and a professor at the University of Tartu. From 2013–2015 he was a researcher-professor of the Estonian Academy of Sciences.
Robin Brooke, New Zealand rugby player
Robin Matthew Brooke is a former New Zealand rugby player. He played for the New Zealand national rugby union team in the 1990s, playing many tests alongside brother Zinzan Brooke.
Mel Rojas, Dominican baseball player
Melquíades Rojas Medrano is a Dominican former Major League Baseball (MLB) relief pitcher. From 1990 to 1999, he played for the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League and the Detroit Tigers of the American League.
Penelope Trunk, American writer
Penelope Trunk is an American writer and entrepreneur. Trunk published literary works including electronic literature in the 1990s and early 2000s under the pen name Adrienne Eisen and later under the name Penelope Trunk, a name she adopted in her public life.
10/12/1965
Greg Giraldo, American lawyer, comedian, actor, and screenwriter (died 2010)
Gregory Carlos Giraldo was an American stand-up comedian, television personality, and lawyer. He is remembered for his appearances on Comedy Central's televised roast specials, and for his work on that network's television shows Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, and the programming block Stand-Up Nation, the last of which he hosted.
J Mascis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
Joseph Donald Mascis Jr., better known as J Mascis, is an American musician who is the singer, guitarist and main songwriter for the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. He has also released several albums as a solo artist and played drums and guitar on other projects. He was ranked number 74 in a Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists", and number 5 in a similar list for Spin magazine in 2012.
Stephanie Morgenstern, Swiss-Canadian actress, producer, and screenwriter
Stephanie Morgenstern is a Canadian actress, filmmaker, and screenwriter for television and film. She has worked extensively on stage, film, and television in both English and French. Her most widely seen feature film credits have been The Sweet Hereafter, Maelström, Julie and Me and Forbidden Love. Morgenstern is also widely recognized by anime fans as the voice of Sailor Venus in the DIC Entertainment English dub of Sailor Moon in the first few seasons as well as the movies. Additionally, she provided the voice of Regina in the Dino Crisis series, and Yin in Yin Yang Yo!.
10/12/1964
Stephen Billington, English actor
Stephen Billington is an English actor. He is known for his role as Greg Kelly in the ITV1 soap opera Coronation Street, for which he won the 1999 British Soap Award for Villain of the Year.
Stef Blok, Dutch banker and politician, Dutch Minister of the Interior
Stephanus Abraham "Stef" Blok is a Dutch politician who served as Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy in the Third Rutte cabinet from 25 May 2021 till 10 January 2022. He is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).
Bobby Flay, American chef and author
Robert William Flay is an American celebrity chef, food writer, restaurateur, and television personality. Flay is the owner and executive chef of several restaurants and franchises, including Bobby's Burger Palace, Bobby's Burgers, and Amalfi. He has appeared on Food Network since 1995, which won him four Daytime Emmy Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Edith González, Mexican actress (died 2019)
Edith González Fuentes was a Mexican actress, regarded as a blonde bombshell and one of the most beautiful actresses in Mexican cinema. She is best remembered for working on multiple telenovelas produced by three different multimedia companies, which included Televisa, TV Azteca and Telemundo.
10/12/1963
Jahangir Khan, Pakistani squash player
Jahangir Khan is a Pakistani former professional squash player. He won the World Open title six times, and the British Open title ten times (1982–1991). He is widely regarded as the greatest squash player of all time, and the greatest sportsman in Pakistan history. From 1981 to 1986, Khan was unbeaten and won 555 consecutive matches during that time – the longest winning streak by any athlete in top-level professional sport as recorded by Guinness World Records.
10/12/1962
Rakhat Aliyev, Kazakh politician and diplomat (died 2015)
Rakhat Mukhtaruly Aliyev was a Kazakh politician and diplomat, who died in an Austrian prison awaiting trial on charges of murder. His trial was planned to start in Vienna in first half of year 2015. Austrian legal circles were giving much attention to this high-profile criminal case in which a former diplomat was facing murder charges.
John de Wolf, Dutch footballer and manager
Johannes Hildebrand de Wolf is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a defender. He earned six caps for the Netherlands national team, scoring two goals.
10/12/1961
Mark McKoy, Canadian hurdler and sprinter
Mark Anthony McKoy is a Canadian retired track and field athlete. He won the gold medal for the 110 metres hurdles at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He won the 60 metres hurdles title at the 1993 IAAF World Indoor Championships and the 110 metres hurdles titles at the Commonwealth Games in 1982 and 1986. He is the World record holder for the 50 metres hurdles with 6.25 secs (1986), he is also the Canadian record holder for the 60 metres hurdles with 7.41 secs (1993) and the 110 metres hurdles with 13.08 secs (1993).
Nia Peeples, American singer and actress
Virenia Peeples is an American R&B and dance music singer and actress. Peeples is known for playing Nicole Chapman on the TV series Fame; Pam Fields on the drama Pretty Little Liars; Karen Taylor Winters on The Young and the Restless; Sydney Cooke on Walker, Texas Ranger; and as Grace's mom, Susan, on The Fosters.
10/12/1960
Kenneth Branagh, British actor director, producer, and screenwriter
Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Branagh trained at RADA in London and served as its president from 2015 to 2024. His accolades include an Academy Award, four BAFTAs, two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Olivier Award. He was knighted in 2012, and was given Freedom of the City in his native Belfast in 2018. In 2020, he was ranked in 20th place on The Irish Times's list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Kōichi Satō, Japanese actor
Koichi Sato is a Japanese actor. He is the son of actor Rentarō Mikuni. He is known for his acting skills and has won three individual Blue Ribbon Awards in the categories of Best Newcomer (1982), Best Actor (2003), and Best Supporting Actor (2024). He is the first actor to win three individual awards since his father, Rentarō Mikuni.
10/12/1959
Mark Aguirre, American basketball player and coach
Mark Anthony Aguirre is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Aguirre was chosen as the first overall pick of the 1981 NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks after playing three years at DePaul University. Aguirre played in the NBA from 1981 until 1994 and won two championships with the Detroit Pistons after being traded to Detroit from Dallas in exchange for Adrian Dantley. Aguirre was a three-time All-Star for Dallas. Aguirre was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
Udi Aloni, American-Israeli director and author
Udi Aloni is an Israeli American filmmaker, writer, visual artist and political activist whose works focus on the interrelationships between art, theory, and action.
Kevin Ash, English journalist and author (died 2013)
Kevin Ash was a British motorcycle journalist and author, who contributed to The Daily Telegraph and to Motor Cycle News.
Wolf Hoffmann, German guitarist
Wolf Hoffmann is a German musician, primarily known as the guitarist and last remaining original member of heavy metal band Accept since 1976. His work in Accept influenced the development of speed metal genre. He is also one of the first players of neoclassical metal.
10/12/1958
Cornelia Funke, German-American author
Cornelia Maria Funke is a German author of children's fiction. Born in Dorsten, North Rhine-Westphalia, she began her career as a social worker before becoming a book illustrator. She began writing novels in the late 1980s and focused primarily on fantasy-oriented stories that depict the lives of children faced with adversity. Funke has since become Germany's "bestselling author for children". Her work has been translated into several languages and, as of 2012, Funke has sold over 20 million copies of her books worldwide.
Kathryn Stott, English pianist and academic
Kathryn Stott is an English classical pianist who performs as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Her specialities include the English and French classical repertoire, contemporary classical music and the tango. She is a professor at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester and has organised several music festivals and concert series.
10/12/1957
Michael Clarke Duncan, American actor (died 2012)
Michael Clarke Duncan was an American actor best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in The Green Mile (1999), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and other honors. He also played Kingpin in Daredevil and Spider-Man: The New Animated Series. In addition, he appeared in movies such as Armageddon (1998), The Whole Nine Yards (2000), Planet of the Apes (2001), The Scorpion King (2002), Sin City (2005), and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), as well as in the role of Leo Knox in the television series Bones (2011) and its spin-off The Finder (2012); he also appeared in episodes of Two and a Half Men. He also had voice roles in films, including Brother Bear (2003), The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses (2005), Brother Bear 2 (2006), Kung Fu Panda (2008), and Green Lantern (2011); he had the voice role of Benjamin King in the video game Saints Row (2006).
Paul Hardcastle, English composer and producer
Paul Louis Hardcastle is an English composer, musician, record producer, songwriter, radio presenter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his song "19", which went to number one on the UK singles chart in 1985.
Prem Rawat, Indian-American guru and educator
Prem Pal Singh Rawat, formerly known as Maharaji, is an Indian international speaker and author. His teachings include a meditation practice he calls "Knowledge", and peace education based on the discovery of personal resources such as inner strength, choice, appreciation and hope.
10/12/1956
Rod Blagojevich, American lawyer and politician, 40th Governor of Illinois
Rod R. Blagojevich, often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked in both the state and federal legislatures. He served as an Illinois state representative from 1993 to 1997, and the U.S. representative from Illinois's 5th district from 1997 to 2003.
Roberto Cassinelli, Italian lawyer and politician
Roberto Cassinelli is an Italian politician and lawyer, Judge of the Constitutional Court of Italy since 2025.
Jan van Dijk, Dutch footballer and manager
Johannes ("Jan") Hermannus van Dijk is a retired Dutch footballer and manager.
10/12/1954
Eudine Barriteau, Barbadian economist and academic
Violet Eudine Barriteau, FB, GCM, is a professor of gender and public policy, as well as Principal of the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill. She was also the president of the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) from 2009 to 2010, and she is on the advisory editorial boards of Palimpsest: A Journal on Women, Gender, and the Black International, published by SUNY Press, and Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, published by University of Chicago Press.
Price Cobb, American race car driver and manager
Price Daniel Cobb is an American race car driver. He won the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans together with John Nielsen and Martin Brundle in a Jaguar XJR-12. He also owned an Indy Racing League team in 1998 and 1999 for Roberto Guerrero and Jim Guthrie. He also has authored a number of books on auto racing.
Jack Hues, English singer-songwriter and musician
Jeremy Allan Ryder, known professionally as Jack Hues, is an English singer, songwriter and musician who is best known for forming and fronting the 1980s English new wave band Wang Chung. Hues was also a member of the one-off band Strictly Inc.
10/12/1953
Chris Bury, American journalist and academic
Christopher Robert Bury is an American journalist best known for being a correspondent at ABC News Nightline, where he also served as substitute anchor. Bury was also a national correspondent based in Chicago for World News with Diane Sawyer and Good Morning America. He is now senior journalist in residence at DePaul University in Chicago. Bury's recent work includes contributions to PBS NewsHour and Al Jazeera America.
10/12/1952
Clive Anderson, English lawyer and television host
Clive Stuart Anderson is an English comedian, presenter, writer and former barrister. Winner of a British Comedy Award in 1991, Anderson began experimenting with comedy and writing comedic scripts during his 15-year legal career. He then became host of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, initially a radio show on BBC Radio 4 in 1988, before moving to television on Channel 4 from 1988 to 1999. He was also host of his own chat show Clive Anderson Talks Back, which changed its name to Clive Anderson All Talk in 1996, from 1989 to 1999. He has also hosted many radio programmes and made guest appearances on Have I Got News for You, Mock the Week and QI.
Susan Dey, American actress
Susan Hallock Dey is a retired American actress, known for her television roles as Laurie Partridge on the sitcom The Partridge Family from 1970 to 1974, and as Grace Van Owen on the drama series L.A. Law from 1986 to 1992. A three-time Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, she won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Series for L.A. Law in 1988.
Greg Mortimer, Australian geologist and mountaineer
Greg Mortimer is an Australian climber. Mortimer is notable as one of the first two Australians to successfully climb Mount Everest, on 3 October 1984. Their ascent, without supplemental oxygen, was the first via the North Face and Norton Couloir. It is one of the climbing routes that has not been repeated often.
Greg Laurie, American author and pastor
Greg Laurie is an American evangelical pastor, evangelist, and Christian author, who as of March 2013 had continued to lead his congregation and serve as a crusade leader, in the role of senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, Riverside, California. He also is the founder of Harvest Crusades. Laurie is also the subject of the 2023 film Jesus Revolution, which tells the story of how he converted to Christianity and got his start in ministry in the midst of the Jesus movement.
Paul Varul, Estonian lawyer and politician, 6th Estonian Minister of Justice
Paul Varul is an Estonian lawyer and politician. He was the Minister of Justice of Estonia from 1995 to 1999.
10/12/1951
Johnny Rodriguez, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2025)
Juan Raoul Davis "Johnny" Rodriguez was an American country music singer from Texas. In the 1970s and 1980s, Rodriguez was one of country music's most successful male artists, recording a string of hit songs, such as "You Always Come Back ", "Desperado", "Down on the Rio Grande", and "Foolin'". He recorded six No. 1 country hits in his career.
10/12/1950
John Boozman, American football player, lawyer, and politician
John Nichols Boozman is an American politician and former optometrist serving as the senior United States senator from Arkansas, a seat he has held since 2011. From 2001 to 2011, he served as the U.S. representative for Arkansas's 3rd congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, Boozman has been the dean of Arkansas's congressional delegation since 2013.
Simon Owen, New Zealand golfer
Simon Owen is a professional golfer from New Zealand.
10/12/1949
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Ugandan-English journalist and author
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is a British journalist and author. A columnist for The i Paper and the Evening Standard, she is a commentator on immigration, diversity, and multiculturalism issues.
David Perdue, American politician
David Alfred Perdue Jr. is an American diplomat, politician, and businessman serving as the 14th United States ambassador to China since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, Perdue previously served as a United States senator for Georgia from 2015 to 2021. He was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Georgia in 2022.
10/12/1948
Dušan Bajević, Bosnian footballer and manager
Dušan "Duško" Bajević is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football managers of all time, he is the country's most decorated manager.
Jessica Cleaves, American singer-songwriter (died 2014)
Jessica Marguerite Cleaves was an American singer and songwriter who was the lead singer of the Friends of Distinction, Earth, Wind & Fire, Parliament Funkadelic, and Raw Silk.
Jasuben Shilpi, Indian sculptor (died 2013)
Jasuben Shilpi or Jasu Shilpi was an Indian bronze sculpture artist. In her career she made more than 525 bust size and 225 large size statues. She was popularly known as "The Bronze woman of India".
10/12/1947
Rasul Guliyev, Azerbaijani engineer and politician, 22nd Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan
Rasul Guliyev is an Azerbaijani politician who served as the Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan from 1993 to 1996.
10/12/1946
Douglas Kenney, American satirist (died 1980)
Douglas Clark Francis Kenney was an American comedy writer of magazine, novels, radio, TV and film, who co-founded the magazine National Lampoon in 1970. Kenney edited the magazine and wrote much of its early material. He went on to write, produce, and perform in the influential comedies Animal House and Caddyshack before his death at the age of 33.
10/12/1945
Mukhtar Altynbayev, Kazakhstani general and politician, 3rd Defence Minister of Kazakhstan
Mūhtar Qapaşūly Altynbaev is a Kazakh military officer and politician who holds the rank of General of the Army. He served as the Minister of Defense of Kazakhstan twice, most recently from December 2001 to 10 January 2007. Prime Minister Karim Massimov replaced him with former Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov in a political shakeup.
10/12/1944
Andris Bērziņš, Latvian businessman and politician, 8th President of Latvia
Andris Bērziņš is a Latvian businessman and politician who was President of Latvia from 2011 to 2015. Bērziņš was the President of Unibanka from 1993 to 2004. He was elected as President by the Saeima on 2 June 2011.
John Birt, Baron Birt, English businessman
John Birt, Baron Birt is a British television executive and businessman. He is a former Director-General (1992–2000) of the BBC.
Steve Renko, American baseball player
Steve Renko, Jr. is an American former right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the Montreal Expos (1969–1976), Chicago Cubs (1976–1977), Chicago White Sox (1977), Oakland Athletics (1978), Boston Red Sox (1979–1980), California Angels (1981–1982) and Kansas City Royals (1983).
10/12/1942
Ann Gloag, Scottish nurse and businesswoman
Ann Heron Gloag DBE is a Scottish businesswoman, activist, and charity campaigner. She is co-founder of the transport company Stagecoach Group.
10/12/1941
Ken Campbell, English actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2008)
Kenneth Victor Campbell was an English actor, director and writer. He was known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre".
Fionnula Flanagan, Irish actress and producer
Fionnghuala Manon "Fionnula" Flanagan is an Irish actress. Flanagan is best known for her roles in the films James Joyce's Women (1985), Some Mother's Son (1996), Waking Ned (1998), The Others (2001), Four Brothers (2005), Yes Man (2008), The Guard (2011) and Song of the Sea (2014). She is also known for her recurring role as Eloise Hawking in the series Lost (2007–2010). Notable stage productions she has performed in include Ulysses in Nighttown and The Ferryman, both of which earned her Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actress in a Play.
Tommy Kirk, American actor (died 2021)
Thomas Lee Kirk was an American actor, best known for his performances in films made by Walt Disney Studios such as Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, Swiss Family Robinson, The Absent-Minded Professor, and The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, as well as the beach party films of the mid-1960s. He frequently appeared as a love interest for Annette Funicello or as part of a family with Kevin Corcoran as his younger brother and Fred MacMurray as his father.
Tommy Rettig, American child actor (died 1996)
Thomas Noel Rettig was an American child actor, computer software engineer, and author. He portrayed Jeff Miller in the first three seasons of CBS's Lassie television series, from 1954 to 1957, later seen in syndicated re-runs with the title Jeff's Collie. He also played the young orphan adopted by British star David Niven in an episode of the TV anthology series Four Star Playhouse entitled "No Identity." He then co-starred with another former child actor, Tony Dow, in the mid-1960s television teen soap opera Never Too Young and recorded the song by that title with singing group The TR-4.
Kyu Sakamoto, Japanese singer and actor (died 1985)
Hisashi "Kyu" Sakamoto , legally registered as Hisashi Ōshima since 1956, was a Japanese singer and actor.
10/12/1939
Dick Bavetta, American basketball player and referee
Richard William Bavetta is an American retired referee for the National Basketball Association (NBA). He debuted in the league in 1975 and never missed an assigned game until 2014, and he holds the league record for most officiated games with 2,635.
Barry Cunliffe, English archaeologist and academic
Sir Barrington Windsor Cunliffe, usually known as Sir Barry Cunliffe, is a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2007. Since 2007, he has been an emeritus professor.
10/12/1938
Bill Dunk, Australian golfer
William Edgar Dunk is an Australian professional golfer.
Yuri Temirkanov, Russian viola player and conductor (died 2023)
Yuri Khatuevich Temirkanov was a Soviet and Russian conductor, named a People's Artist of the USSR.
10/12/1936
Howard Smith, American journalist, director, and producer (died 2014)
Howard Smith was an American Oscar-winning film director, producer, journalist, screenwriter, actor and radio broadcaster.
10/12/1935
Terry Allcock, English footballer and cricketer (died 2024)
Terence Allcock was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for Bolton Wanderers and Norwich City. He was also a cricketer who played for Norfolk County Cricket Club.
Jaromil Jireš, Czech director and screenwriter (died 2001)
Jaromil Jireš was a Czech film director and screenwriter. He was associated with the Czechoslovak New Wave movement.
10/12/1934
Howard Martin Temin, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1994)
Howard Martin Temin was an American geneticist and virologist. He discovered reverse transcriptase in the 1970s at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, for which he shared the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Renato Dulbecco and David Baltimore.
10/12/1933
Philip R. Craig, American author (died 2007)
Philip R. Craig was a writer known for his Martha's Vineyard mysteries.
Mako Iwamatsu, Japanese actor (died 2006)
Makoto Iwamatsu was a Japanese-American actor, credited mononymously in almost all of his acting roles as simply Mako . His career in film, on television, and on stage spanned five decades and 165 productions. He was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award.
10/12/1931
Peter Baker, English-South African footballer and manager (died 2016)
Peter Baker was an English footballer. Educated at Southgate County School in North London, he played right-back for Tottenham Hotspur and was part of the double-winning side of 1960-61 and won the FA Cup with Spurs in 1962. He played 299 league games for Tottenham scoring three goals.
10/12/1930
Wayne D. Anderson, American baseball player and coach (died 2013)
Wayne Delbert Anderson was an American college basketball coach, the head coach for eight seasons at the University of Idaho, his alma mater. He was also the head baseball coach at Idaho for nine seasons, and the assistant athletic director for fifteen years.
Ray Felix, American basketball player (died 1991)
Raymond Darlington Felix Sr. was an American professional basketball player. He was born in New York City. He played high school basketball at Metropolitan High School in New York and college basketball at Long Island University. Felix was drafted No. 1 overall pick in the 1953 NBA draft, the first African American first selection in NBA history.
Michael Jopling, Baron Jopling, English farmer and politician, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Thomas Michael Jopling, Baron Jopling is a British politician who sits in the House of Lords as a member of the Conservative Party.
10/12/1928
Barbara Nichols, American actress (died 1976)
Barbara Marie Nickerauer, known professionally as Barbara Nichols, was an American actress who often played brassy or comic roles in films in the 1950s and 1960s.
10/12/1927
Bob Farrell, American businessman, founded Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour (died 2015)
Robert E. Farrell was an American motivational speaker, author, and founder of Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour and Restaurant.
Danny Matt, German-Israeli general (died 2013)
Danny Matt was a decorated career Israeli military officer who served in the Israel Defense Forces from 1948 until 1992. He attained the rank of major general and fought in five Arab-Israeli wars, including the wars of 1948 and 1973. Among his many exploits was a daring operation involving leading a paratroop force across the Suez Canal during the Yom Kippur War. The operation was the beginning phase of a larger Israeli counter offensive that ultimately led to the victory of the Israeli army.
10/12/1926
Guitar Slim, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1959)
Eddie Jones, known as Guitar Slim, was an American guitarist in the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song "The Things That I Used to Do", for Specialty Records. It is listed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. Slim had a major impact on rock and roll and experimented with distorted tones on the electric guitar a full decade before Jimi Hendrix.
10/12/1925
Carolyn Kizer, American poet and academic (died 2014)
Carolyn Ashley Kizer was an American poet of the Pacific Northwest whose works reflect her feminism. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1985.
10/12/1924
Ken Albers, American singer and musician (died 2007)
John Kenneth Albers was an American singer and brass musician who performed with The Four Freshmen from 1956 to 1982.
Michael Manley, Jamaican pilot and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Jamaica (died 1997)
Michael Norman Manley was a Jamaican politician, trade unionist and journalist who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1972 to 1980, and from 1989 to 1992. Manley championed a democratic socialist programme, and has been described as a populist, although many in the country feared he would turn Jamaica into a communist state. He remains one of Jamaica's most popular prime ministers.
10/12/1923
Harold Gould, American actor (died 2010)
Harold Vernon Goldstein, better known as Harold Gould, was an American character actor. He appeared as Martin Morgenstern on the sitcom Rhoda (1974–78) and Miles Webber on the sitcom The Golden Girls (1985–92). A five-time Emmy Award nominee, Gould acted in television, film, and theatre for more than 50 years, appearing in more than 300 television shows, 20 major motion pictures, and over 100 stage plays. He was known for playing elegant, well-dressed men, and he regularly played Jewish characters and grandfather-type figures on television and in film.
Clorindo Testa, Italian-Argentinian architect, designed the National Library of the Argentine Republic and Marriott Plaza Hotel (died 2013)
Clorindo Manuel José Testa was an Italian-Argentine architect and artist.
10/12/1922
Agnes Nixon, American television writer and director (died 2016)
Agnes Nixon was an American television writer and producer, and the creator of the ABC soap operas One Life to Live, All My Children, as well as Loving and its spin-off The City.
10/12/1921
Toh Chin Chye, Singaporean academic and politician, 1st Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore (died 2012)
Toh Chin Chye was a Singaporean statesman and academic. He was a founding member of the People's Action Party (PAP), the dominant political party in Singapore since independence. Toh played a significant role in Singapore's early political development and was instrumental in shaping the country's post-independence governance. Toh is widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of modern Singapore.
10/12/1920
Clarice Lispector, Ukrainian-Brazilian journalist and author (died 1977)
Clarice Lispector was a Ukrainian-born Brazilian novelist and short story writer. Her distinctive and innovative works delve into diverse narrative forms, weaving themes of intimacy and introspection, earning her subsequent international acclaim. She is known for works such as Near to the Wild Heart (1943) and The Hour of the Star (1977).
Reginald Rose, American screenwriter and producer (died 2002)
Reginald Rose was an American playwright and screenwriter. He wrote about controversial social and political issues. His realistic approach was particularly influential in the anthology programs of the 1950s.
10/12/1919
Alexander Courage, American composer and conductor (died 2008)
Alexander Mair Courage Jr. familiarly known as "Sandy" Courage, was an American orchestrator, arranger, and composer of music, primarily for television and film. He is best known as the composer of the theme music for the original Star Trek series.
10/12/1918
Anne Gwynne, American actress (died 2003)
Anne Gwynne was an American actress who was known as one of the first scream queens because of her numerous appearances in horror films. Gwynne was also one of the most popular pin-ups of World War II. She was the maternal grandmother of actor Chris Pine.
Anatoli Tarasov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (died 1995)
Anatoly Vladimirovich Tarasov was a Russian ice hockey player and coach. Tarasov is considered "the father of Russian ice hockey" and established the Soviet Union national team as "the dominant force in international competition". He was one of the first Russians to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1974 in the builders category. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1997.
10/12/1916
Walt Arfons, American race car driver (died 2013)
Walter Charles Arfons was the half brother of Art Arfons, his former partner in drag racing, and his competitor in jet-powered land speed record racing. Along with Art, he was a pioneer in the use of aircraft jet engines for these types of competition.
10/12/1915
Nicky Barr, Australian rugby player, soldier, and pilot (died 2006)
Andrew William "Nicky" Barr, was a member of the Australian national rugby union team, who became a fighter ace in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. He was credited with 12 aerial victories, all scored flying the Curtiss P-40 fighter. Born in New Zealand, Barr was raised in Victoria and first represented the state in rugby in 1936. Selected to play for Australia in the United Kingdom in 1939, he had just arrived in England when the tour was cancelled following the outbreak of war. He joined the RAAF in 1940 and was posted to North Africa with No. 3 Squadron in September 1941. The squadron's highest-scoring ace, he attained his first three victories in the P-40 Tomahawk and the remainder in the P-40 Kittyhawk.
10/12/1914
Dorothy Lamour, American actress and singer (died 1996)
Dorothy Lamour was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.
10/12/1913
Pannonica de Koenigswarter, English-American jazz patron and writer (died 1988)
Baroness Kathleen Annie Pannonica "Nica" de Koenigswarter was a British-born jazz patron, photographer and writer. A leading patron of bebop, she was a member of the Rothschild family.
Morton Gould, American pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1996)
Morton Gould was an American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist.
Harry Locke, English actor (died 1987)
Harry Locke was an English character actor.
Ray Nance, American trumpeter, violinist, and singer (died 1976)
Ray Willis Nance was an American jazz trumpeter, violinist and singer. He is best remembered for his long association with Duke Ellington and his orchestra.
10/12/1912
Philip Hart, American lawyer and politician, 49th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (died 1976)
Philip Aloysius Hart was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, he served as a United States senator from Michigan from 1959 until his death from cancer in 1976. He was known as the "Conscience of the Senate". The Hart Senate Office Building is named in his honor.
Tetsuji Takechi, Japanese theatrical and film director, critic, and author (died 1988)
Tetsuji Takechi was a Japanese theatrical and film director, critic, and author. First coming to prominence for his theatrical criticism, in the 1940s and 1950s he produced influential and popular experimental kabuki plays. Beginning in the mid-1950s, he continued his innovative theatrical work in noh, kyōgen and modern theater. In late 1956 and early 1957 he hosted a popular TV program, The Tetsuji Takechi Hour, which featured his reinterpretations of Japanese stage classics.
René Toribio, Guadeloupean politician (died 1990)
René Toribio was a French politician and was a member of the French Senate representing Guadeloupe from 1959 to 1968.
10/12/1911
Chet Huntley, American journalist (died 1974)
Chester Robert Huntley was an American television newscaster, best known for co-anchoring NBC's evening news program, The Huntley–Brinkley Report, for 14 years beginning in 1956.
10/12/1910
Ambrosio Padilla, Filipino basketball player and politician (died 1996)
Ambrosio "Paddy" Bibby Padilla was a Filipino basketball player, lawyer, and an elected member of the Senate of the Philippines. He was one of the most important figures in Asian basketball development.
10/12/1909
Hermes Pan, American dancer and choreographer (died 1990)
Hermes Pan was an American dancer and choreographer, principally remembered as Fred Astaire's choreographic collaborator on the famous 1930s movie musicals starring Astaire and Ginger Rogers. He worked on nearly two dozen films and TV shows with Astaire. He won both an Oscar and an Emmy for his dance direction.
10/12/1908
Olivier Messiaen, French composer and ornithologist (died 1992)
Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th century, he was also an outstanding teacher of composition and musical analysis.
10/12/1907
Rumer Godden, English author and poet (died 1998)
Margaret Rumer Godden was a British author of more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books. Nine of her works have been made into films, most notably Black Narcissus in 1947 and The River in 1951.
Lucien Laurent, French footballer and coach (died 2005)
Lucien Laurent was a French footballer who played as a forward. Playing for France, at the 1930 FIFA World Cup, he scored the first ever FIFA World Cup goal, against Mexico.
Amedeo Nazzari, Italian actor (died 1979)
Amedeo Nazzari was an Italian actor. Nazzari was one of the leading figures of Italian classic cinema, often considered a local variant of the Australian–American star Errol Flynn. Although he emerged as a star during the Fascist era, Nazzari's popularity continued well into the post-war years.
10/12/1906
Harold Adamson, American lyricist (died 1980)
Harold Campbell Adamson was an American lyricist from the 1930s through the 1960s.
Jules Ladoumègue, French runner (died 1973)
Jules Ladoumègue was a French middle-distance runner. He became a running star as the sport enjoyed a huge resurgence at the start of the Great Depression, fueled in large part by newsreel coverage. His career was abruptly cut short when he was banned for life from track for payments he received for several races.
10/12/1904
Antonín Novotný, Czechoslovak politician, President of Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (died 1975)
Antonín Josef Novotný was a Czechoslovak politician who served as the President of Czechoslovakia from 1957 to 1968, and as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1953 to 1968. An ardent hardliner, Novotný was forced to yield the reins of power to Alexander Dubček during the short-lived reform movement of 1968.
10/12/1903
Una Merkel, American actress (died 1986)
Una Merkel was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress.
10/12/1896
Torsten Bergström, Swedish actor and director (died 1948)
Torsten Lars Herman Jamte Bergström was a Swedish film director and theater and film actor.
10/12/1891
Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, English field marshal and politician, 17th Governor General of Canada (died 1969)
Field Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, was a British Army officer who served in both of the world wars. Alexander was born in London and was educated at Harrow school before moving on to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, for training as an army officer of the Irish Guards. He rose to military prominence through his service in the First World War, and continued his career through various British campaigns across Europe and Asia during the interwar period.
Arlie Mucks, American discus thrower and shot putter (died 1967)
Arlie Max Mucks was an American track and field athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics.
Nelly Sachs, German-Swedish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1970)
Nelly Sachs was a German–Swedish poet and playwright. Her experiences resulting from the rise of the Nazis in World War II Europe transformed her into a poignant spokesperson for the grief and yearnings of her fellow Jews. Her best-known play is Eli: Ein Mysterienspiel vom Leiden Israels (1950) ; other works include the poems "Zeichen im Sand" (1962), "Verzauberung" (1970), and the collections of poetry In den Wohnungen des Todes (1947), Flucht und Verwandlung (1959), Fahrt ins Staublose (1961), and Suche nach Lebenden (1971). She was awarded the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature.
10/12/1890
László Bárdossy, Hungarian politician and diplomat, 33rd Prime Minister of Hungary (died 1946)
László Bárdossy de Bárdos was a Hungarian diplomat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from April 1941 to March 1942. He was one of the chief architects of Hungary's involvement in World War II.
10/12/1889
Ray Collins, American actor (died 1965)
Ray Bidwell Collins was an American character actor in stock and Broadway theatre, radio, films, and television. With 900 stage roles to his credit, he became one of the most successful actors in the developing field of radio drama. A friend and associate of Orson Welles for many years, Collins went to Hollywood with the Mercury Theatre company and made his feature-film debut in Citizen Kane (1941), as Kane's political rival. Collins appeared in more than 75 films and had one of his best-remembered roles on television, as Los Angeles homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg in the CBS-TV series Perry Mason.
10/12/1886
Victor McLaglen, English-American actor (died 1959)
Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen was a British-American actor and boxer. His film career spanned from the early 1920s through the 1950s, initially as a leading man, though he was better known for his character acting. He was a well-known member of John Ford’s Stock Company, appearing in 12 of the director’s films, seven of which co-starred John Wayne.
10/12/1885
Elizabeth Baker, American economist and academic (died 1973)
Elizabeth Faulkner Baker was an American economist and academic who specialized in scientific management and the relationship between employment and technological change, especially the role of women.
Marios Varvoglis, Greek composer and conductor (died 1967)
Marios Varvoglis was a Greek composer.
10/12/1883
Giovanni Messe, Italian field marshal and politician (died 1968)
Giovanni Messe was an Italian field marshal and politician. In the Second World War, he was captured in Tunisia but made chief of staff of the Italian Co-belligerent Army after the armistice of September 1943. Later, he was an elected representative in the Italian Senate. He is considered by many to have been the best Italian general of the war.
10/12/1882
Otto Neurath, Austrian sociologist and philosopher (died 1945)
Otto Karl Wilhelm Neurath was an Austrian-born philosopher of science, sociologist, and political economist. Considered "one of the neglected geniuses of the twentieth century", Neurath, among other things, invented the ISOTYPE method of pictorial statistics and an innovator in museum practice. Before he fled his native country in 1934, Neurath was one of the leading figures of the Vienna Circle.
Shigenori Tōgō, Japanese politician, 37th Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs (died 1950)
Shigenori Tōgō was Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Empire of Japan at both the start and the end of the Pacific War. He also served as Minister of Colonial Affairs in 1941, and assumed the same position, renamed the Minister for Greater East Asia, in 1945.
10/12/1878
C. Rajagopalachari, Indian lawyer and politician, 45th Governor-General of India (died 1972)
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji, was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and Indian independence activist. Rajagopalachari was the last Governor-General of India, serving until the abolition of that office upon India becoming a republic in 1950. He was the only Indian-born Governor-General or Viceroy of India; all previous holders of these posts had been British nationals. He was an accomplished writer and one of the first recipients of India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. He was close to both Gandhi and Nehru. He vehemently opposed the use of nuclear weapons, and was a proponent of world peace and disarmament, until his death at the age of 94 in 1972.
Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Indian Muslim activist (died 1931)
Muhammad Ali Jawhar was an Indian politician and activist of the Indian independence movement. He was a co-founder of the All-India Muslim League and Jamia Millia Islamia.
10/12/1870
Jadunath Sarkar, Indian historian (died 1958)
Sir Jadunath Sarkar, was a prominent Indian historian and a specialist on the Mughal dynasty.
Adolf Loos, Austrian architect and theoretician (died 1933)
Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos was an Austrian and Czechoslovak architect, influential European theorist, polemicist of modern architecture. He was inspired by modernism and a widely-known critic of the Art Nouveau movement. His controversial views and literary contributions sparked the establishment of the Vienna Secession movement and postmodernism.
Pierre Louÿs, Belgian-French author and poet (died 1925)
Pierre-Félix Louÿs was a Belgian poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who sought to "express pagan sensuality with stylistic perfection". He was made first a Chevalier and then an Officer of the Légion d'honneur for his contributions to French literature.
10/12/1866
Louis Bolk, Dutch anatomist and biologist (died 1930)
Lodewijk 'Louis' Bolk was a Dutch anatomist who created the fetalization theory about the human body. It states that when a human being is born, it is still a fetus, as can be seen by its (proportionally) big head, lack of coordination, and helplessness. Furthermore, this "prematuration" is specifically human.
10/12/1851
Melvil Dewey, American librarian, created the Dewey Decimal System (died 1931)
Melville Louis Kossuth "Melvil" Dewey was an American librarian and educator who invented the Dewey Decimal system of library classification. He was a founder of the Lake Placid Club, a chief librarian at Columbia College, founder of what would later become the Columbia University School of Library Service, and a founding member of the American Library Association. Although Dewey's contributions to the modern library are widely recognized, his legacy is marred by his sexual harassment of female colleagues, as well as his racism and antisemitism.
10/12/1830
Emily Dickinson, American poet (died 1886)
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Largely unpublished and unknown during her lifetime, her work is now widely regarded as canonical. The Poetry Foundation describes her as having "created in her writing a distinctively elliptical language for expressing what was possible but not yet realized."
10/12/1827
Eugene O'Keefe, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (died 1913)
Eugene O'Keefe, baptized as Owen Keeffe, was an Irish-born Canadian businessman and philanthropist, well-known in the brewing industry for his signature brews. He incorporated the O'Keefe Brewery Company of Toronto Limited in 1891.
10/12/1824
George MacDonald, Scottish minister, author, and poet (died 1905)
George MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet and Congregational minister. He became a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow-writer Lewis Carroll. In addition to his fairy tales, MacDonald wrote several works of Christian theology, including several collections of sermons.
10/12/1822
César Franck, Belgian organist and composer (died 1890)
César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium.
10/12/1821
Nikolay Nekrasov, Russian poet and critic (died 1877)
Nikolay Alexeyevich Nekrasov was a Russian poet, writer, critic and publisher, whose deeply compassionate poems about the Russian peasantry made him a hero of liberal and radical circles in the Russian intelligentsia of the mid-nineteenth century, particularly as represented by Vissarion Belinsky and Nikolay Chernyshevsky. He is credited with introducing ternary meters and the technique of dramatic monologue to Russian poetry. As the editor of several literary journals, notably Sovremennik, Nekrasov was also singularly successful and influential.
10/12/1815
Ada Lovelace, English mathematician and computer scientist (died 1852)
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, also known as Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer chiefly known for work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine. She was the first to recognise the machine had applications beyond pure calculation. Lovelace is often considered the first computer programmer.
10/12/1811
Caroline Mehitable Fisher Sawyer, American poet, biographer, and editor (died 1894)
Caroline M. Sawyer was a 19th-century American poet, writer, and editor. Her writings ranged through a wide variety of themes. Born in 1812, in Massachusetts, she began composing verse at an early age, but published little till after her marriage. Thereafter, she wrote much for various reviews and other miscellanies, besides several volumes of tales, sketches, and essays. She also made numerous translations from German literature, in prose and verse, in which she evinced an appreciation of the original. Sawyer's poems were numerous, sufficient for several volumes, though they were not published as a collection.
10/12/1805
William Lloyd Garrison, American journalist and activist, founded The Liberator (died 1879)
William Lloyd Garrison was an American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. His widely read anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator was a driving force that fueled the abolitionist era, which Garrison founded in 1831 and published in Boston until slavery in the United States was abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. He supported the rights of women, and during the 1870s became a prominent voice for the women's suffrage movement.
Joseph Škoda, Czech physician, dermatologist, and academic (died 1881)
Joseph Škoda was an Austrian physician, medical professor and dermatologist. Together with Carl Freiherr von Rokitansky, he was the founder of the Modern Medical School of Vienna.
10/12/1804
Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi, German mathematician and academic (died 1851)
Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi was a German mathematician who made fundamental contributions to elliptic functions, dynamics, differential equations, determinants and number theory.
10/12/1787
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, American educator, founded the American School for the Deaf (died 1851)
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was an American educator. Along with Laurent Clerc and Mason Cogswell, he co-founded the first permanent institution for the education of the deaf in North America, and he became its first principal. When opened on April 15, 1817, it was called the "Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons", but it is now known as the American School for the Deaf.
10/12/1783
María Bibiana Benítez, Puerto Rican poet and playwright (died 1873)
María Bibiana Benítez Batista was a Puerto Rican writer who was Puerto Rico's first female poet and one of its first playwrights. She was the first of three renowned poets in her family, the others being her niece and adopted daughter Alejandrina Benítez de Gautier, and Alejandrina's son José Gautier Benítez.
10/12/1776
Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este (died 1848)
Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este was an Electress of Bavaria as the second wife of Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria.
10/12/1751
George Shaw, English botanist and zoologist (died 1813)
George Kearsley Shaw was an English botanist and zoologist.
10/12/1713
Johann Nicolaus Mempel, German cantor and organist (died 1747)
Johann Nicolaus Mempel was a German musician.
10/12/1658
Lancelot Blackburne, Archbishop of York (died 1743)
Lancelot Blackburne was an English clergyman, who became Archbishop of York, and – in popular belief – a pirate.
10/12/1654
Giovanni Gioseffo dal Sole, Italian painter (died 1719)
Giovanni Gioseffo dal Sole was an Italian painter and engraver from Bologna, active in the late-Baroque period. Upon the death of Carlo Cignani, Gioseffo dal Sole became among the most prominent painters in Bologna, described as the Guido Moderno.
10/12/1610
Adriaen van Ostade, Dutch painter (died 1685)
Adriaen van Ostade was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works, showing the everyday life of ordinary men and women.
10/12/1588
Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (died 1637)
Isaac Beeckman was a Dutch philosopher and scientist, who, through his studies and contact with leading natural philosophers, may have "virtually given birth to modern atomism".
10/12/1489
Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours (died 1512)
Gaston de Foix, duc de Nemours, nicknamed The Thunderbolt of Italy, was a famed French military commander of the Renaissance. Nephew of King Louis XII of France and general of his armies in Italy from 1511 to 1512, he is noted for his military feats in a career which lasted no longer than a few months. The young general is regarded as a stellar commander well ahead of his time. An adept of lightning fast forced marches as well as sudden and bold offensives that destabilized contemporary armies and commanders, De Foix is mostly remembered for his six-month campaign against the Holy League in the War of the League of Cambrai. He met his end in said conflict, at the age of 22, during the Battle of Ravenna (1512), the last of his triumphs.
10/12/1472
Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk (died 1481)
Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk, later also Duchess of York and Duchess of Norfolk was an English noblewoman and the sole heiress of the Mowbray family. She became the child bride of Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, one of the Princes in the Tower, in January 1478 when she was five years old. Through this marriage, her vast inheritance—including extensive lands and titles—was tied to the royal family by an act of Parliament of 1483, ensuring her estates remained under King Edward IV’s control through Richard. Anne died at the age of eight in Greenwich, London. Her early death meant her titles and estates were absorbed into the crown and redistributed under subsequent acts of Parliament, impacting the later dynastic settlement of her inheritance.
10/12/1452
Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer (died 1531)
Johannes Stöffler was a German mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, priest, maker of astronomical instruments and professor at the University of Tübingen.
10/12/1376
Edmund Mortimer, English nobleman and rebel (died 1409)
Sir Edmund Mortimer IV was an English nobleman and landowner who played a part in the rebellions of the Welsh leader Owain Glyndŵr and of the Percy family against King Henry IV, at the beginning of the 15th century. He perished at the siege of Harlech as part of these conflicts. He was related to many members of the English royal family through his mother, Princess Philippa, Countess of Ulster, who was a granddaughter of King Edward III.
10/12/0553
Houzhu, emperor of the Chen dynasty (died 604)
Chen Shubao, also known as Houzhu of Chen, posthumous name Duke Yáng of Chángchéng, courtesy name Yuánxiù (元秀), childhood name Huángnú (黃奴), was the fifth and last emperor of the Chinese Chen dynasty, which was conquered by the Sui dynasty in 589.
Lives Remembered on 10th December
On 10th December, 125 remarkable people passed away — from 925 to 2025. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.
10/12/2025
Jeffery Garcia, American stand-up comedian and voice actor (born 1975)
Jeffrey Garcia was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Best known for his roles in animation, he voiced Sheen Estevez in Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius as well as its two Nickelodeon spin-off television show series—The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius and Planet Sheen—along with Pip the Mouse in Barnyard and its spin-off television show series Back at the Barnyard.
10/12/2024
Rocky Colavito, American baseball player and sportscaster (born 1933)
Rocco Domenico "Rocky" Colavito Jr. was an American professional baseball player, coach, and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1955 to 1968, most prominently as a member of the Cleveland Indians, with whom he established himself as a fan favorite for his powerful hitting and his strong throwing arm. Colavito also played for the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Athletics, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees. At the time of his retirement in 1968, Colavito ranked third among AL right-handed hitters for home runs (374) and eighth for AL games played as a right fielder (1,272).
Michael Cole, American actor (born 1940)
Michael Cole was an American actor best known for his role as Pete Cochran on the television crime drama The Mod Squad (1968–1973).
Kreskin, American mentalist (born 1935)
The Amazing Kreskin, also known as Kreskin, was an American mentalist who became popular on television in the 1970s. He was inspired to become a mentalist by Lee Falk's comic strip Mandrake the Magician, which features a crime-fighting stage magician. He always presented himself as a mentalist, never as a psychic, who operated on the basis of suggestion, not the paranormal or supernatural.
S. M. Krishna, Indian politician and statesman, Minister of External Affairs, 10th Chief Minister of Karnataka, 19th Governor of Maharashtra (born 1932)
Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna was an Indian politician who served as Minister of External Affairs of India from 2009 to October 2012. He was the 10th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004 and the 19th Governor of Maharashtra from 2004 to 2008. S. M. Krishna served as the Speaker of the Karnataka Vidhana Soudha from December 1989 to January 1993. He was also a Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha member from 1971 to 2014. He is widely credited with putting Bengaluru on the world map by building the foundation for it to become the IT Hub that it is today during his tenure as Chief Minister. In 2023, Krishna was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award of India.
10/12/2023
Julian Carroll, American politician, 54th Governor of Kentucky (born 1931)
Julian Morton Carroll was an American lawyer and politician from the state of Kentucky. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 54th governor of Kentucky from 1974 to 1979, succeeding Wendell Ford, who resigned to accept a seat in the United States Senate. He last served a member of the Kentucky Senate, representing Anderson, Franklin, Woodford, Gallatin, and Owen counties from 2005 to 2021. He was the first Kentucky governor from the state's far-western Jackson Purchase region. Thelma Stovall, who served as lieutenant governor with him, was the first woman to be elected lieutenant governor of Kentucky.
10/12/2021
Michael Nesmith, American musician (The Monkees), songwriter, actor, producer, and novelist (born 1942)
Robert Michael Nesmith was an American musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and actor, known as a member of The Monkees and for his solo work. His songwriting credits with The Monkees include "Mary, Mary", "The Girl I Knew Somewhere", "Tapioca Tundra", "Circle Sky" and "Listen to the Band". Additionally, his song "Different Drum" became a hit for the Stone Poneys featuring Linda Ronstadt.
10/12/2020
Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr., American actor and wrestler (born 1958)
Tommy Debo "Tiny" Lister Jr. was an American actor and professional wrestler. As a character actor, he is known for his roles as the neighborhood bully Deebo in the 1995 film Friday and its 2000 sequel, and as President Lindberg in The Fifth Element. He had two short professional wrestling stints, with Hulk Hogan in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) after appearing as Zeus in the 1989 film No Holds Barred and resuming the feud as Z-Gangsta in 1996 for World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He was born with a detached and deformed retina and was blind in his right eye, which drooped, a unique look that he turned to his advantage in film. He played in both comedies and dramas, usually cast as 'the heavy/big bully'.
Joseph Safra, Lebanese-Brazilian financier (born 1938)
Joseph Safra was a Lebanese Brazilian banker and billionaire businessman of Syrian descent. He was Brazil's richest man and the richest banker in the world, running the Brazilian banking and investment empire, Safra Group.
Carol Sutton, American actress (born 1944)
Carol Joan Sutton was an American actress of theater, film and television. She was best known for her appearances in the films Steel Magnolias, Monster's Ball, and Ray.
Barbara Windsor, English actress (born 1937)
Dame Barbara Windsor was an English actress. She was known for her roles in the Carry On films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders. She joined the cast of EastEnders in 1994 and won the 1999 British Soap Award for Best Actress, before leaving the show in 2016.
10/12/2019
Philip McKeon, American actor (born 1964)
Philip Anthony McKeon was an American child actor and radio personality, best known for his role as Tommy Hyatt, the son of the title character on the television sitcom Alice from 1976 to 1985.
Gershon Kingsley, American composer and musician (born 1922)
Gershon Kingsley was a German-American composer, a pioneer of electronic music and the Moog synthesizer, a partner in the electronic music duo Perrey and Kingsley, founder of the First Moog Quartet, and writer of rock-inspired compositions for Jewish religious ceremonies. Kingsley is most famous for his 1969 influential electronic instrumental composition "Popcorn", and his composition of the WGBH-TV Soundmark.
Emily Mason, American painter (born 1932)
Emily Mason was an American abstract painter and printmaker. Mason developed her individual approach to the Abstract Expressionist and color field painting traditions with her veils of color and spontaneous gestural mark. Mason was born and raised in New York City, where she lived and worked until her death.
10/12/2017
Bruce Brown, American filmmaker (born 1937)
Bruce Alan Brown was an American documentary film director, known as an early pioneer of the surf film. He was the father of filmmaker Dana Brown.
Max Clifford, British publicist (born 1943)
Maxwell Frank Clifford was an English publicist and convicted sex offender who was particularly associated with promoting "kiss and tell" stories in tabloid newspapers.
Charles M. Green Jr., American Internet personality (born 1950)
Charles Marvin Green Jr., better known online as Angry Grandpa, was an American YouTuber. His videos have been featured on HLN's Dr. Drew, TruTV's Most Shocking, Rude Tube, and MTV's Pranked. Green's YouTube channel TheAngryGrandpaShow has amassed a total of 4.84 million subscribers and 1.87 billion views.
Curtis W. Harris, American minister (born 1924)
Curtis West Harris was an African-American minister, civil rights activist, and politician in Virginia, United States. Harris became the first African-American mayor of Hopewell, Virginia and was the recipient of numerous awards and honors.
10/12/2015
Ron Bouchard, American race car driver and businessman (born 1948)
Ronald Rodgers Bouchard was an American NASCAR driver who was the 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year. His brother Ken Bouchard was the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year. His father-in-law, Ed Flemke, and brother-in-law, Ed Flemke Jr., were also NASCAR Modified racers.
Denis Héroux, Canadian director and producer (born 1940)
Denis Héroux, was a Canadian film director and producer.
Arnold Peralta, Honduran footballer (born 1989)
Arnold Fabián Peralta Sosa was a Honduran footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
Dolph Schayes, American basketball player and coach (born 1928)
Adolph Schayes was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A top scorer and rebounder, he was a 12-time NBA All-Star and a 12-time All-NBA selection. Schayes won an NBA championship with the Syracuse Nationals in 1955. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, and was also named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1973.
10/12/2014
Ralph Giordano, German author and publicist (born 1923)
Ralph Giordano was a German writer and publicist.
Robert B. Oakley, American diplomat, 19th United States Ambassador to Pakistan (born 1931)
Robert Bigger Oakley was an American diplomat whose 34-year career (1957–1991) as a Foreign Service Officer included appointments as United States Ambassador to Zaire, Somalia, and Pakistan and, in the early 1990s, as a special envoy during the American involvement in Somalia.
Bob Solinger, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1925)
Robert Edward "Solly" Solinger was a professional ice hockey player who played 99 games in the National Hockey League. Born in Star City, Saskatchewan, he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings. He was the first winner of the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as rookie of the year in the American Hockey League.
Judy Baar Topinka, American journalist and politician (born 1944)
Judy Baar Topinka was an American politician and member of the Republican Party from the U.S. State of Illinois.
Gerard Vianen, Dutch cyclist (born 1944)
Gerard Vianen was a Dutch professional road bicycle racer. A domestique for Joop Zoetemelk and Raymond Poulidor, he won one stage in the Tour de France and 3 stages in the Vuelta a España.
10/12/2013
Alan Coleman, English-Australian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1936)
Alan James Coleman was an England-born Australian television series producer, screenwriter, director and former actor, active in his native United Kingdom as well as in Australia and New Zealand.
Jim Hall, American guitarist and composer (born 1930)
James Stanley Hall was an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger.
Don Lund, American baseball player and coach (born 1923)
Donald Andrew Lund was an American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers, St. Louis Browns (1948) and Detroit Tigers. He batted and threw right-handed.
Srikanta Wadiyar, Indian politician and the titular Maharaja of Mysore(born 1946)
Srikanthadattā Narasimharājā Wadiyar was an Indian royal scion, politician, and fashion designer, who served as Member of Parliament from Mysore. He was the son of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, the last king of Mysore.
10/12/2012
Iajuddin Ahmed, Bangladeshi academic and politician, 13th President of Bangladesh (born 1931)
Iajuddin Ahmed was the president of Bangladesh, serving from 2002 to 2009.
Antonio Cubillo, Spanish lawyer and politician (born 1930)
Antonio de León Cubillo Ferreira was a Spanish Independentist, politician, lawyer and militant from the Canary Islands.
Tommy Roberts, English fashion designer (born 1942)
Thomas Steven Roberts was an English designer and fashion entrepreneur who operated independent retail outlets including pop art boutique, Mr Freedom, and the 1980s decorative arts and homewares store, Practical Styling.
10/12/2010
John Fenn, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1917)
John Bennett Fenn was an American analytical chemist who was awarded a share of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2002, sharing half of the award with Koichi Tanaka for their work in mass spectrometry. His contributions related to the development of electrospray ionization, now a commonly used technique for large molecules and routine liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Early in his career, he studied the field of jet propulsion at Project SQUID and focused on molecular beams. He finished his career with more than 100 publications, including one book.
J. Michael Hagopian, Armenian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1913)
Jakob Michael Hagopian was an Armenian-born American Emmy-nominated filmmaker.
MacKenzie Miller, American horse trainer and breeder (born 1921)
MacKenzie "Mack" Todd Miller was an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer and owner/breeder. During his forty-six-year career, he conditioned seventy-two stakes winners, including four Eclipse Award champions.
10/12/2009
Vladimir Teplyakov, Russian soldier and physicist (born 1925)
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Teplyakov was a Russian experimental physicist known for his work on particle accelerators. Together with I.M. Kapchinsky, he invented the principle of the radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ), which revolutionized the acceleration of low-energy charged particle beams.
10/12/2007
Vitali Hakko, Turkish businessman, founded Vakko (born 1913)
Vitali Hakko was a Turkish Jewish businessman, founder of the Vakko clothing business.
10/12/2006
Olivia Coolidge, English-American author and educator (born 1908)
Margaret Olivia Ensor Coolidge was a British-born American writer and educator. She published 27 books, many for young adults, including The Greek Myths (1949), her debut; The Trojan War (1952); Legends of the North (1951); Makers of the Red Revolution (1963); Men of Athens, one runner-up for the 1963 Newbery Medal; Lives of Famous Romans (1965); and biographies of Eugene O'Neill, Winston Churchill, Edith Wharton, Gandhi, and Tom Paine. Olivia Coolidge was born in London to Sir Robert Ensor, a journalist and historian. She earned a degree in Classics and Philosophy at Somerville College, Oxford, in 1931 and a Master's degree in 1940. In Germany, England and the U.S. she taught Greek, Latin, and English. In 1946 she married Archibald C. Coolidge of Connecticut, who had four children.
Augusto Pinochet, Chilean general and dictator, 30th President of Chile (born 1915)
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte was a Chilean army officer and military dictator who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990. He led the military junta that overthrew President Salvador Allende in 1973 and established a military dictatorship. He was proclaimed President of Chile in 1974 and served until 1990, when he stepped down to pave the way for democratic elections. Throughout his presidency, thousands of political opponents were tortured or executed. Pinochet is the longest-serving head of state in the history of Chile.
10/12/2005
Mary Jackson, American actress (born 1910)
Mary Jackson was an American character actress whose nearly fifty-year career began in 1950 and was spent almost entirely in television. She is best known for the role of the lovelorn Emily Baldwin in The Waltons and was the original choice to play Alice Horton in the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives, playing the part in the unaired pilot. The role was instead given to Frances Reid.
Eugene McCarthy, American poet, academic, and politician (born 1916)
Eugene Joseph McCarthy was an American politician, writer, and academic who represented Minnesota in both houses of the United States Congress for over 22 years, first in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959, then in the U.S. Senate from 1959 until his resignation in 1971. A member of the Democratic Party, McCarthy sought the party's presidential nomination in the 1968 presidential election, challenging incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson on an anti–Vietnam War platform, and ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for president four more times.
Richard Pryor, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1940)
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Known for reaching a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, he is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential comedians of all time. Pryor won a Primetime Emmy Award and five Grammy Awards. He received the first Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 1998. He won the Writers Guild of America Award in 1974.
10/12/2004
Gary Webb, American journalist and author (born 1955)
Gary Stephen Webb was an American investigative journalist.
10/12/2003
Sean McClory, Irish actor and director (born 1924)
Séan Joseph McClory was an Irish actor whose career spanned six decades and included well over 100 films and television series. He was sometimes billed as Shawn McGlory or Sean McGlory.
10/12/2002
Andres Küng, Swedish journalist and politician (born 1945)
Andres Küng was a Swedish journalist, writer, entrepreneur and politician of Estonian origin. He was born in Ockelbo in Gävleborg County to a family of refugees from Soviet occupied Estonia.
Ian MacNaughton, Scottish actor, director, and producer (born 1925)
Edward Ian MacNaughton was a Scottish actor, television producer and director, best known for his work with the Monty Python team.
10/12/2001
Ashok Kumar, Indian actor, singer, and producer (born 1911)
Ashok Kumar was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most successful actors in the history of Indian cinema. He is considered to be the first superstar of Indian cinema as well as the first lead actor to play an anti-hero. He also became the first star to reinvent himself, enjoying a long and hugely successful career as a character actor. He was a member of the cinematic Ganguly family. He was honoured in 1988 with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national award for cinema artists, by the Government of India. He received the Padma Shri in 1962 and Padma Bhushan in 1999 for his contributions to Indian cinema.
10/12/2000
Marie Windsor, American actress (born 1919)
Marie Windsor was an American actress known for her femme fatale characters in the classic film noir features Force of Evil, The Narrow Margin and The Killing. Windsor's height created problems for her in scenes with all but the tallest actors. She was the female lead in so many B movies that she became dubbed the "Queen" of the genre.
10/12/1999
Rick Danko, Canadian singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (born 1943)
Richard Clare Danko was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Franjo Tuđman, Croatian general and politician, 1st President of Croatia (born 1922)
Franjo Tuđman was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the country's independence from Yugoslavia. Tuđman also was the ninth and last president of the Presidency of SR Croatia from May to July 1990.
Woodrow Borah, American historian of Spanish America (born 1912)
Woodrow Wilson Borah was an American historian of colonial Mexico, whose research contributions on demography, economics, and social structure made him a major Latin Americanist. With his 1999 death "disappears the last great figure in the generation that presided over the vast expansion of the Latin American scholarly field in the United States during the years following World War II." With colleagues at University of California, Berkeley who came to be known as the "Berkeley School" of Latin American history, Borah pursued projects to gather data from archives on indigenous populations, colonial enterprises, and "land-life" relations that revolutionized the study of Latin American history.
10/12/1996
Faron Young, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (born 1932)
Faron Young was an American country singer, musician, and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s. His hits including "If You Ain't Lovin' " and "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young" marked him as a honky-tonk singer in sound and personal style; and his chart-topping singles "Hello Walls" and "It's Four in the Morning" showed his versatility as a vocalist.
10/12/1995
Darren Robinson, American rapper (born 1967)
Darren Robinson, also known as Big Buff, Buff Love, Buffy, The Human Beat Box, The Ox That Rocks, and DJ Doctor Nice, was a rapper, beatboxer, and actor who was a member of the 1980s hip hop group The Fat Boys. He, along with Doug E. Fresh and others, were pioneers of beatboxing, a form of vocal percussion used in many rap groups throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
10/12/1994
Keith Joseph, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Education (born 1918)
Keith Sinjohn Joseph, Baron Joseph,, known as Sir Keith Joseph, 2nd Baronet, for most of his political life, was a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as a minister under four prime ministers: Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Edward Heath, and Margaret Thatcher. He was a key influence in the creation of what came to be known as Thatcherism.
Alex Wilson, Canadian-American sprinter (born 1905)
Alexander S. Wilson was a Canadian sprinter who competed in both the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics. He was born in Montreal and died in Mission, Texas, United States.
10/12/1993
Alice Tully, American soprano (born 1902)
Alice Bigelow Tully was an American singer of opera and recital, music promoter, patron of the arts and philanthropist from New York. She was a second cousin of the American actress Katharine Hepburn.
10/12/1992
Dan Maskell, English tennis player and sportscaster (born 1908)
Daniel Maskell was an English tennis professional who later became a radio and television commentator on the sport. He was described as the BBC's "voice of tennis", and the "voice of Wimbledon".
10/12/1991
Greta Kempton, Austrian-American painter and academic (born 1901)
Martha Greta Kempton was an Austrian-American painter who was the White House artist during the Truman administration.
10/12/1990
Armand Hammer, American businessman, founded Occidental Petroleum (born 1898)
Armand Hammer was an American oil tycoon, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.
10/12/1988
Richard S. Castellano, American actor (born 1933)
Richard Salvatore Castellano was an American actor who is best remembered for his role in Lovers and Other Strangers and his subsequent role as Peter Clemenza in The Godfather.
Johnny Lawrence, English cricketer and coach (born 1911)
John Lawrence was a diminutive Yorkshire-born cricketing all-rounder whose middle or lower order batting and leg-break and googly bowling were of great importance to Somerset in the 10 cricket seasons immediately after the Second World War.
Dorothy de Rothschild, English philanthropist and activist (born 1895)
Dorothy de Rothschild was an English philanthropist and activist for Jewish affairs who married into the wealthy Rothschild banking family.
10/12/1987
Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian-American violinist and educator (born 1901)
Jascha Heifetz was a Russian-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Born in Vilna, he was soon recognized as a child prodigy and was trained in the Russian violin school in St. Petersburg. Accompanying his parents to escape the violence of the Russian Revolution, he moved to the United States as a teenager, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. Fritz Kreisler, another leading violinist of the twentieth century, said after hearing Heifetz's debut, "We might as well take our fiddles and break them across our knees."
10/12/1982
Freeman Gosden, American actor and screenwriter (born 1899)
Freeman Fisher "Gozzie" Gosden was an American radio comedian, actor and pioneer in the development of the situation comedy form. He is best known for his work in the Amos 'n' Andy radio series.
10/12/1979
Ann Dvorak, American actress (born 1911)
Ann Dvorak was an American stage and film actress.
10/12/1978
Ed Wood, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1924)
Edward Davis Wood Jr. was an American filmmaker, actor and novelist. In the 1950s, Wood directed several low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became cult classics, notably Glen or Glenda (1953), Jail Bait (1954), Bride of the Monster (1955), Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) and Night of the Ghouls (1959). In the 1960s and 1970s, he moved towards sexploitation and pornographic films such as The Sinister Urge (1960), Orgy of the Dead (1965) and Necromania (1971), and wrote over 80 lurid pulp crime and sex novels.
10/12/1977
Adolph Rupp, American basketball player and coach (born 1901)
Adolph Frederick Rupp was an American college basketball coach. Nicknamed the "Baron of the Bluegrass", he coached the University of Kentucky Wildcats to four NCAA championships, one NIT championship, 27 Southeastern Conference championships, and 13 SEC tournament championships. In his 41 years of coaching at Kentucky, he won 876 games, retiring with the most total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach at the time; he has since been surpassed by six coaches and ranks seventh. Rupp is second among all men's college coaches in all-time winning percentage (.822) and third in NCAA championships. In 1948, he coached the US Olympic Team to a gold medal in London.
10/12/1974
Toshinari Shōji, Japanese general (born 1890)
Toshinari Shōji was a major general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific campaign in World War II.
10/12/1973
Wolf V. Vishniac, German-American microbiologist and academic (born 1922)
Wolf Vladimir Vishniac was an American microbiologist. He was the son of photographer Roman Vishniac and the father of astronomer Ethan Vishniac. Educated at Brooklyn College and Stanford University, he was a professor of biology at the University of Rochester. He died on a research trip to the Antarctic attempting to retrieve equipment in a crevasse. The crater Vishniac on Mars is named in his honor.
10/12/1972
Mark Van Doren, American poet, critic, and academic (born 1894)
Mark Van Doren was an American poet, writer and critic. He was a scholar and a professor of English at Columbia University for nearly 40 years, where he inspired a generation of influential writers and thinkers including Thomas Merton, Robert Lax, John Berryman, Whittaker Chambers, and Beat Generation writers such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. He was literary editor of The Nation, in New York City from 1924 to 1928 and its film critic from 1935 to 1938.
10/12/1970
Chen Qiyou, Chinese politician and revolutionary (born 1892)
Chen Qiyou was a Chinese revolutionary and politician with the China Zhi Gong Party. Born to a prominent family in Haifeng County, he became interested in efforts to overthrow the Qing dynasty as a teenager and joined the Tongmenghui in 1911. He participated in the Second Guangzhou Uprising and the assassination of Tartar-General Fengshan, then left for Japan to study politics and economics. In 1917, after returning to China and spending a year with the Ministry of Finance, he joined Sun Yat-sen's Constitutional Protection Junta as the secretary to General Chen Jiongming. In 1931, Chen joined the China Zhi Gong Party (ZG), with whom he served in various capacities for the rest of his life.
10/12/1968
Karl Barth, Swiss theologian and author (born 1886)
Karl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary The Epistle to the Romans, his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship of the Barmen Declaration, and especially his unfinished multi-volume theological summa the Church Dogmatics. Barth's influence expanded well beyond the academic realm to mainstream culture, leading him to be featured on the cover of Time on 20 April 1962.
George Forrest, Northern Irish lawyer and politician (born 1921)
George Forrest was a Northern Irish unionist politician from Tullyhogue Cookstown who served as MP for Mid Ulster in the House of Commons from 1956 until his death. One of twelve children of Joseph and Sarah-Jane Forrest, George Forrest was an auctioneer and publican prior to his election to parliament.
Thomas Merton, American monk and author (born 1915)
Thomas Merton, religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, theologian, mystic, poet, and social activist. He was a professed member of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, near Bardstown, Kentucky, living there from 1941 to his death.
10/12/1967
Otis Redding, American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1941)
Otis Ray Redding Jr. was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. Nicknamed the "King of Soul", Redding's style of singing drew inspiration from the gospel music that preceded the genre. His vocal style influenced many other soul artists of the 1960s.
10/12/1963
K. M. Panikkar, Indian historian and diplomat (born 1894)
Kavalam Madhava Panikkar, popularly known as Sardar K. M. Panikkar, was an Indian statesman and diplomat. He was also a professor, newspaper editor, historian and novelist. He was born in Travancore, then a princely state in the British Indian Empire and was educated in Madras and at the University of Oxford.
10/12/1958
Adolfo Camarillo, American horse breeder, rancher, and philanthropist (born 1864)
Don Adolfo Camarillo was a prominent Californio philanthropist, ranchero, and horse breeder, known for founding the city of Camarillo, California, along with his brother Juan Camarillo Jr. Camarillo also donated the land for Adolfo Camarillo High School. The horse breed Camarillo White Horse was named for Camarillo. He began breeding them in 1921 and the line continues today. Because of his philanthropy in 1950, Pope Pius XII named him a Knight of St. Gregory the Great.
10/12/1957
Napoleon Zervas, Greek general (born 1891)
Napoleon Zervas was a Hellenic Army officer and resistance leader during World War II. He organized and led the National Republican Greek League (EDES), the second most significant, in terms of size and activity, resistance organization against the Axis Occupation of Greece.
10/12/1956
David Shimoni, Russian-Israeli poet and translator (born 1891)
David Shimoni was an Israeli poet, writer and translator.
10/12/1953
Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Indian-English scholar and translator (born 1872)
Abdullah Yusuf Ali was an Indian-British barrister who wrote a number of books about Islam, including an exegesis of the Qur'an. A supporter of the British war effort during World War I, Ali received the CBE in 1917 for his services to that cause. He died in London in 1953.
10/12/1951
Algernon Blackwood, English author and playwright (born 1869)
Algernon Henry Blackwood was an English broadcasting narrator, journalist, novelist and short story writer, and among the most prolific ghost story writers in the history of the genre. The literary critic S. T. Joshi stated, "His work is more consistently meritorious than any weird writer's except Dunsany's" and that his short story collection Incredible Adventures (1914) "may be the premier weird collection of this or any other century".
10/12/1948
Na Hye-sok, South Korean journalist, poet, and painter (born 1896)
Na Hye-sŏk (Korean: 나혜석, April 28, 1896 – December 10, 1948) was a Korean feminist, poet, writer, painter, educator, and journalist. Her art name was Jeongwol. She was a pioneering Korean feminist writer and painter. She was the first female professional painter and the first feminist writer in Korea. She created some of the earliest Western-style paintings in Korea, and published feminist novels and short stories. She became well known as a feminist because of her criticism of the marital institution in the early 20th century.
10/12/1946
Walter Johnson, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (born 1887)
Walter Perry Johnson, nicknamed "Barney" and "the Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for the Washington Senators from 1907 to 1927. He later served as manager of the Senators from 1929 through 1932 and of the Cleveland Indians from 1933 through 1935.
Damon Runyon, American newspaperman and short story writer (born 1884)
Alfred Damon Runyon was an American journalist and short-story writer.
10/12/1945
Theodor Dannecker, German captain (born 1913)
Theodor Dannecker was a German SS-captain, a key aide to Adolf Eichmann in the deportation of Jews during World War II.
10/12/1944
John Brunt, English captain, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1922)
Captain John Henry Cound Brunt, was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
10/12/1941
Colin Kelly, American captain and pilot (born 1915)
Colin Purdie Kelly Jr. was an American B-17 Flying Fortress pilot who flew bombing runs against the Japanese navy in the days following the attack on Pearl Harbor. He is remembered as one of the first American heroes of World War II after ordering his crew to bail out while he remained at the bomber's controls trying to keep the plane in the air before it exploded, killing him. His was the first American B-17 to be shot down in combat.
10/12/1939
John Grieb, American gymnast and triathlete (born 1879)
John William Grieb was an American gymnast and track and field athlete who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics. He was born in Philadelphia. In 1904 he won the gold medal in the gymnastics' team event and silver medal in the athletics' triathlon event. He was also sixth in athletics' all-around event, 52nd in gymnastics' all-around event and 90th in gymnastics' triathlon event.
10/12/1936
Bobby Abel, English cricketer (born 1857)
Robert Abel, nicknamed "The Guv'nor", was a Surrey and England opening batsman who was one of the most prolific run-getters in the early years of the County Championship. He was the first England player to "carry his bat" – opening the batting and remaining not out at the end of an innings – through a Test innings, and the first player to score 2000 runs in consecutive seasons – which he did each season from 1895 to 1902. In 1899 for Surrey against Somerset at The Oval, Abel carried his bat through an innings of 811, the highest total for which this feat has been achieved. His 357* in that innings remains a Surrey record, and was the highest score made at The Oval until Len Hutton scored 364 in 1938. Abel also played a record number of first-class matches in a season – 41 in 1902.
Luigi Pirandello, Italian dramatist, novelist, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (born 1867)
Luigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer most noted for his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic and scenic art". Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written in Sicilian. Pirandello's tragic farces are often seen as forerunners of the Theatre of the Absurd.
10/12/1932
Joseph Carruthers, Australian politician, 16th Premier of New South Wales (born 1857)
Sir Joseph Hector McNeil Carruthers was an Australian politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1904 to 1907.
10/12/1929
Harry Crosby, American publisher and poet (born 1898)
Harry Crosby was an American poet and publisher regarded as a figure of the Lost Generation in American literature. He was the son of one of the richest banking families in New England, a Boston Brahmin, and the nephew of Jane Norton Grew, the wife of financier J. P. Morgan, Jr. As such, he was heir to a portion of a substantial family fortune. He was a volunteer in the American Field Service and later served in the U.S. Ambulance Corps, narrowly escaping with his life. Profoundly affected by his experience in World War I, Crosby vowed to live life on his own terms as a bon vivant, and abandoned all pretense of living the expected life of a privileged Bostonian. In 1920 he met and married Caresse Crosby; their affair was the source of scandal and gossip among blue-blood Boston. He and Caresse subsequently left for Europe, where they devoted themselves to art and poetry.
10/12/1928
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scottish architect and painter (born 1868)
Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdonald, was influential on European design movements such as Art Nouveau and Secessionism and praised by great modernists such as Josef Hoffmann. Mackintosh was born in Glasgow, Scotland and died in London, England. He is among the most important figures of the Modern Style.
10/12/1926
Nikola Pašić, Serbian politician, 46th Prime Minister of Serbia (born 1845)
Nikola Pašić was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat. During his political career, which spanned almost five decades, he served five times as prime minister of Serbia and three times as prime minister of Yugoslavia, leading 22 governments in total. He played an instrumental role in the founding of Yugoslavia and is considered one of the most influential figures in Serbian twentieth-century history. With 12 years in office, Pašić was the longest-serving prime minister of Serbia.
10/12/1922
Clement Lindley Wragge, English meteorologist and author (born 1852)
Clement Lindley Wragge was an English meteorologist. He set up the Wragge Museum in Stafford following a trip around the world. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and in 1879 was elected Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society in London. To the end of his life, he was interested in theosophy and spiritualism. In 1908, during a tour of India, he met with Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam who had claimed to be the Mahdi, the messianic redeemer awaited by Muslims. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sought him out in New Zealand to ask for his views on spiritualism before writing The Wanderings of a Spiritualist in 1921. After training in law, Wragge became a meteorologist, his accomplishments in the field including winning the Scottish Meteorological Society's gold medal and years later starting the trend of using people's names for cyclones. He travelled widely, giving lectures in London and India, and in his later years was an authority on Australia, India and the Pacific Islands.
10/12/1920
Horace Elgin Dodge, American businessman, co-founded Dodge (born 1868)
Horace Elgin Dodge Sr. was an American automobile manufacturing pioneer and co-founder of Dodge Brothers Company.
10/12/1917
Mackenzie Bowell, English-Canadian journalist and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Canada (born 1823)
Sir Mackenzie Bowell was the fifth prime minister of Canada, serving from 1894 to 1896.
10/12/1911
Joseph Dalton Hooker, English botanist and explorer (born 1817)
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For 20 years he served as director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, succeeding his father, William Jackson Hooker, and was awarded the highest honours of British science.
10/12/1909
Red Cloud, American tribal chief (of the Oglala nation) (born 1822)
Red Cloud was a leader of the Oglala Lakota from 1865 to 1909. He was one of the most capable Native American opponents whom the United States Army faced in the western territories. He led the Lakota to victory over the United States during Red Cloud's War, establishing the Lakota as the only nation to defeat the United States on American soil. The largest action of the war was the 1866 Fetterman Fight, with 81 US soldiers killed; it was the worst military defeat suffered by the US Army on the Great Plains until the Battle of the Little Bighorn 10 years later.
10/12/1896
Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist and engineer, invented Dynamite and founded the Nobel Prize (born 1833)
Alfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish chemist, inventor, engineer, and businessman. Nobel is known for inventing dynamite, as well as having bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes. He worked on various important contributions and inventions to science, holding 355 patents during his life.
10/12/1867
Sakamoto Ryōma, Japanese samurai and politician (born 1836)
Sakamoto Ryōma was a Japanese samurai, a shishi and influential figure of the Bakumatsu, and establishment of the Empire of Japan in the late Edo period.
10/12/1865
Leopold I of Belgium (born 1790)
Leopold I was the first king of the Belgians, reigning from 21 July 1831 until his death in 1865.
10/12/1850
Józef Bem, Polish general and physicist (born 1794)
Józef Zachariasz Bem, also known as Murad Tevfik Paşa in Turkey, was a Polish engineer and general, an Ottoman pasha and a national hero of Poland and Hungary, and a figure intertwined with other European patriotic movements. Like Tadeusz Kościuszko and Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, Bem fought outside Poland's borders anywhere his leadership and military skills were needed.
François Sulpice Beudant, French mineralogist and geologist (born 1787)
François Sulpice Beudant was a French mineralogist and geologist. The mineral beudantite was named after him.
10/12/1831
Thomas Johann Seebeck, German physicist and academic (born 1770)
Thomas Johann Seebeck was a German physicist who observed a relationship between heat and magnetism. Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted later called this phenomenon the thermoelectric effect.
10/12/1791
Jacob Frank, Polish religious leader (born 1726)
Jacob Joseph Frank was a Polish-Jewish religious leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of the self-proclaimed messiah Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676) and also of the biblical patriarch Jacob. The religious authorities of the Jewish community excommunicated Frank and his followers due to his heretical doctrines that included deification of himself as a part of a trinity and other controversial concepts such as neo-Carpocratian "purification through transgression". Frank’s teachings led his sect into scandalous practices, including ritualized orgies, incestuous acts—most notably between fathers and daughters—and the deliberate violation of Jewish moral laws, which he preached were necessary to hasten a messianic redemption through embracing the "abyss" of sin.
10/12/1736
António Manoel de Vilhena, Portuguese soldier and politician (born 1663)
António Manoel de Vilhena was a Portuguese nobleman who was the 66th Prince and Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem from 19 June 1722 to his death in 1736. Unlike a number of the other Grand Masters, he was benevolent and popular with the Maltese people. Vilhena is mostly remembered for the founding of Floriana, the construction of Fort Manoel and the Manoel Theatre, and the renovation of the city of Mdina.
10/12/1665
Tarquinio Merula, Italian organist, violinist, and composer (born 1594)
Tarquinio Merula was an Italian composer, organist, and violinist of the early Baroque era. Although mainly active in Cremona, stylistically he was a member of the Venetian school. He was one of the most progressive Italian composers of the early 17th century, especially in applying newly developed techniques to sacred music.
10/12/1626
Edmund Gunter, English mathematician and academic (born 1581)
Edmund Gunter, was an English clergyman, mathematician, geometer and astronomer of Welsh descent. He is best remembered for his mathematical contributions, which include the invention of the Gunter's chain, the Gunter's quadrant, and the Gunter's scale. In 1620, he invented the first successful analogue device which he developed to calculate logarithmic tangents.
10/12/1618
Giulio Caccini, Italian composer and educator (born 1551)
Giulio Romolo Caccini was an Italian composer, teacher, singer, instrumentalist and writer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was one of the founders of the genre of opera, and one of the most influential creators of the new Baroque style. He was also the father of the composer Francesca Caccini and the singer Settimia Caccini.
10/12/1561
Caspar Schwenckfeld, German theologian and writer
Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig was a German court adviser, theologian, writer, and preacher who became a Protestant Reformer and spiritualist. He was one of the earliest promoters of the Protestant Reformation in Silesia.
10/12/1541
Thomas Culpeper, English courtier (born 1514)
Thomas Culpeper was an English courtier and close friend of Henry VIII, and was related to two of his queens, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. He is known to have had many private meetings with Catherine during her marriage, though these may have involved political intrigue rather than sex. A letter to him was found, written by Queen Catherine and signed, "Yours as long as life endures." Accused of adultery with Henry's young consort, Culpeper denied it and blamed the Queen for the situation, saying that he had tried to end his friendship with her, but that she was "dying of love for him". Eventually, Culpeper admitted that he intended to sleep with the queen, though he never admitted to having actually done so. After being convicted of treason, Culpeper was executed by beheading in December, 1541.
Francis Dereham, English courtier (born c. 1513)
Francis Dereham was a Tudor courtier whose involvement with Henry VIII's fifth Queen, Catherine Howard, in her youth, prior to engagement with the king, was eventually found out and led to his arrest. The information of Dereham having a relationship with Howard displeased King Henry to such great lengths he arranged the executions of all involved.
10/12/1508
René II, Duke of Lorraine (born 1451)
René II was Count of Vaudémont from 1470, Duke of Lorraine from 1473, and Duke of Bar from 1483 to 1508. He claimed the crown of the Kingdom of Naples and the County of Provence as the Duke of Calabria 1480–1493 and as King of Naples and Jerusalem 1493–1508. He succeeded his uncle John of Vaudémont as Count of Harcourt in 1473, exchanging it for the county of Aumale in 1495. He succeeded as Count of Guise in 1504.
10/12/1475
Paolo Uccello, Italian painter (born 1397)
Paolo Uccello, born Paolo di Dono, was an Italian Renaissance painter and mathematician from Florence who was notable for his pioneering work on visual perspective in art. In his book Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, Giorgio Vasari wrote that Uccello was obsessed by his interest in perspective and would stay up all night in his study trying to grasp the exact vanishing point. Uccello used perspective to create a feeling of depth in his paintings. His best known works are the three paintings representing the battle of San Romano, which were wrongly entitled the Battle of Sant'Egidio of 1416 for a long period of time.
10/12/1454
Ignatius Behnam Hadloyo, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch.
Ignatius Behnam Hadloyo was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1445 until his death in 1454.
10/12/1310
Stephen I, Duke of Bavaria (born 1271)
Stephen I was the duke of Lower Bavaria from 1290 until 1310 as co-regnant of his older brothers Otto III and Louis III.
10/12/1113
Radwan, ruler of Aleppo
Ridwan was a Seljuk emir of Aleppo from 1095 until his death.
10/12/1081
Nikephoros III Botaneiates, deposed Byzantine Emperor (born c.1002)
Nikephoros III Botaneiates, Latinized as Nicephorus III Botaniates, was Byzantine Emperor from 7 January 1078 to 1 April 1081. He became a general during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos, serving with distinction during the Pecheneg revolt of 1048–1053. In 1057 he aided Isaac I Komnenos in overthrowing Emperor Michael VI Bringas, leading forces at the decisive Battle of Petroe. Under the Emperor Constantine X Doukas Nikephoros was made doux, first of Thessalonica and subsequently of Antioch. In the latter position he repelled numerous incursions from the Emirate of Aleppo. Constantine X died in 1067 and Empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa married Romanos IV Diogenes; Nikephoros, who had also been a candidate for Eudokia's hand and the position of emperor, was exiled and remained in retirement until Emperor Michael VII summoned him to serve as kouropalates and governor of the Anatolic Theme.
10/12/1041
Michael IV the Paphlagonian, Byzantine emperor (born 1010)
Michael IV the Paphlagonian was Byzantine Emperor from 11 April 1034 to his death on 10 December 1041.
10/12/0990
Folcmar, bishop of Utrecht
Volkmar, Folkmar or Folcmar is a German given name, now also found as a surname. It is derived from an Old High German compound equivalent to 'people, folk, nation' + 'famous'. Notable people with the name include:
10/12/0949
Herman I, Duke of Swabia
Herman I was the first Conradine Duke of Swabia, the son of Gebhard, Duke of Lorraine, and a cousin of King Conrad I of Germany.
10/12/0925
Sancho I, king of Pamplona
Sancho Garcés I, also known as Sancho I, was king of Pamplona from 905 until 925. He was the son of García Jiménez and was the first king of Pamplona of the Jiménez dynasty. Sancho I was the feudal ruler of the Onsella valley, and expanded his power to all the neighboring territories. He was chosen to replace Fortún Garcés by the Pamplonese nobility in 905.
Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 10th December
Alfred Nobel Day or Nobeldagen (Sweden)
By an ordinance issued by the government of Sweden, a number of days of the calendar year are designated as official flag flying days when the Swedish flag is flown on all public flagpoles and buildings. Hoisting of the Swedish flag on private flagpoles on these days is strongly encouraged but not mandatory.
Christian feast day: Behnam, Sarah, and the Forty Martyrs (Syriac Orthodox Church)
Saints Behnam, Sarah, and the Forty Martyrs were 4th-century Christians who suffered martyrdom during the reign of Zoroastrian King Shapur II. They are venerated as saints in the Oriental Orthodox Churches and their lives are described in writings known as the Persian martyr acts.
Christian feast day: Eulalia of Mérida
Eulalia of Mérida was a young Roman Christian martyred in Augusta Emerita, the capital of Lusitania, during the Persecution of Christians under Diocletian. Other views place her death at the time of Trajan Decius. There is debate whether Saint Eulalia of Barcelona, whose story is similar, is the same person. Up till the proclamation of James, son of Zebedee, Eulalia was invoked as the protector of Christian troops in the Reconquista and was patron of the territories of Spain during their formation.
Christian feast day: Gregory III
Pope Gregory III was the bishop of Rome from 11 February 731 to his death on 28 November 741. His pontificate, like that of his predecessor, was disturbed by Byzantine iconoclasm and the advance of the Lombards, in which he invoked the intervention of Charles Martel, although ultimately in vain. He was the last pope to seek the consent of the Byzantine exarch of Ravenna for his election, the last pope of Syrian origin, and the last pope born outside Europe until the election of Pope Francis 1,272 years later in 2013.
Christian feast day: Karl Barth (Episcopal Church (USA))
Karl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary The Epistle to the Romans, his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship of the Barmen Declaration, and especially his unfinished multi-volume theological summa the Church Dogmatics. Barth's influence expanded well beyond the academic realm to mainstream culture, leading him to be featured on the cover of Time on 20 April 1962.
Christian feast day: Polydore Plasden
Polydore Plasden (1563–1591) was one of the Catholic Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. A native of London, he studied for the priesthood at Rheims and Rome, and was ordained in 1586 before being sent back to England soon after.
Christian feast day: Thomas Merton (Episcopal Church (USA))
Thomas Merton, religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, theologian, mystic, poet, and social activist. He was a professed member of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, near Bardstown, Kentucky, living there from 1941 to his death.
Christian feast day: Translation of the Holy House of Loreto
The Basilica della Santa Casa is a Marian shrine in Loreto, in the Marches, Italy. The shrine is widely known for preserving the house of the Holy Family. Pious legends claim the same house was supernaturally flown over by angelic beings from Nazareth to Tersatto, then to Recanati, before arriving at the current site. The shrine is designated a basilica by the privilege of immemorial status.
Christian feast day: December 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
December 9 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - December 11
Constitution Day (Thailand)
Public holidays in Thailand are regulated by the government, and most are observed by both the public and private sectors. There are usually nineteen public holidays in a year, but more may be declared by the cabinet. Other observances, both official and non-official, local and international, are observed to varying degrees throughout the country.
Human Rights Day (International)
Human Rights Day (HRD) is celebrated annually around the world on 10 December.
What Happened on 10th December?
53 significant events took place on Sunday, 10th December — stretching from 1317 to 2021. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.
10/12/2021
A widespread, deadly, and violent tornado outbreak slams the Central, Midwestern, and Southern regions of the United States. Eighty-nine people are killed by the tornadoes, with most of the fatalities occurring in Kentucky, where a single tornado kills 57 people, and injures hundreds of others. Another tornado in Edwardsville, Illinois strikes an Amazon warehouse, killing six workers.
A deadly late-season tornado outbreak, the deadliest on record in December, produced catastrophic damage and numerous fatalities across portions of the Southern United States and Ohio Valley from the evening of December 10 to the early morning of the 11th, 2021. The event developed as a trough progressed eastward across the United States, interacting with an unseasonably moist and unstable environment across the Mississippi Valley. Tornado activity began in northeastern Arkansas, before progressing into Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
10/12/2019
The Ostrava hospital attack in the Czech Republic results in eight deaths, including the perpetrator.
The Ostrava hospital shooting was a mass shooting that occurred on 10 December 2019 at the Ostrava University Hospital in Ostrava, Czech Republic. A total of seven people were killed in the attack, and two others were injured. The illegally armed perpetrator, 42-year-old Ctirad Vitásek, left the scene before the police arrived and committed suicide as police closed in on him later during the day. The perpetrator had three previous criminal convictions, including one for a violent crime, and a previous hospitalization in a psychiatric ward.
10/12/2017
ISIL is defeated in Iraq.
The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and by its Arabic acronym Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist militant organisation and internationally unrecognised quasi-state. IS occupied a significant amount of territory in Iraq and Syria from 2013 to 2016, but lost most of it between 2017 and 2019. In 2014, the group proclaimed itself to be a worldwide caliphate and claimed religious and political authority over all Muslims worldwide, a claim not accepted by the vast majority of Muslims. It is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and many countries around the world, including Muslim countries.
10/12/2016
Two explosions outside a football stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, kill 38 people and injure 166 others.
On the evening of 10 December 2016, two explosions caused by a car bombing and suicide bombing in Istanbul's Beşiktaş municipality killed 48 people and injured 166 others. 39 of those killed were police officers, 7 were civilians and 2 were perpetrators. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) assumed responsibility, claiming that their members killed more than 100 police officers.
10/12/2015
Rojava conflict: The Syrian Democratic Council is established in Dêrik, forming the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria.
The Rojava Revolution, also known as the Rojava conflict is a political upheaval and military conflict taking place in northern Syria, known among Kurds as Western Kurdistan or Rojava.
10/12/2014
Palestinian minister Ziad Abu Ein is killed after the suppression of a demonstration by Israeli forces in the village (Turmus'ayya) in Ramallah.
Ziad Abu Ein, also spelled Ziad Abu Ain, was a Palestinian politician. He was a member of the Fatah political party, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and a senior minister in the Palestinian Authority.
10/12/2005
Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crashes at Port Harcourt International Airport in Nigeria, killing 108 people.
Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 (SO1145/OSL1145) was a scheduled Nigerian domestic passenger flight from Nigeria's capital of Abuja (ABV) to Port Harcourt (PHC). At approximately 14:08 local time on 10 December 2005, it crash-landed at Port Harcourt International Airport. The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 with 110 people on board, slammed into the ground and burst into flames. Immediately after the crash, seven survivors were recovered and taken to hospitals, but only two people survived.
10/12/1999
Helen Clark is sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand, the second woman to hold the post and the first following an election.
Helen Elizabeth Clark is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was New Zealand's fifth-longest-serving prime minister, and the second woman to hold that office.
10/12/1996
The new Constitution of South Africa is promulgated by Nelson Mandela.
The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the human rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the Government. The current constitution, the country's fifth, was drawn up by the Parliament elected in 1994 general election. It was promulgated by President Nelson Mandela on 18 December 1996 and came into effect on 4 February 1997, replacing the Interim Constitution of 1993. The first constitution was enacted by the South Africa Act 1909, the longest-lasting to date.
10/12/1995
The Israeli army withdraws from Nablus pursuant to the terms of Oslo Accord.
The Israeli Ground Forces are the army of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The current commander of the ground forces is Major General Nadav Lotan.
10/12/1994
Rwandan genocide: Maurice Baril, military advisor to the U.N. Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, recommends that UNAMIR stand down.
The Rwandan genocide, also known as the Tutsi genocide, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were systematically killed by Hutu militias. While the Rwandan Constitution states that over 1 million people were killed, most scholarly estimates suggest between 500,000 and 662,000 Tutsi died, mostly men. The genocide was marked by extreme violence, with victims often murdered by neighbours, and widespread sexual violence, with between 250,000 and 500,000 women raped.
10/12/1993
The last shift leaves Wearmouth Colliery in Sunderland. The closure of the 156-year-old pit marks the end of the old County Durham coalfield, which had been in operation since the Middle Ages.
Monkwearmouth Colliery was a major North Sea coal mine on the north bank of the River Wear in Sunderland, England, United Kingdom. It was the largest mine in the world and one of the most important in County Durham in northeast England. First opened in 1835 and in spite of the many accidents at the pit, the mine was the last to remain operating in the County Durham Coalfield. The last shift left the pit on 10 December 1993, ending over 80 years of commercial coal mining in the region. The Colliery site was cleared soon afterwards, and the Stadium of Light, the stadium of Sunderland A.F.C., was built over it, opening in July 1997 to replace nearby Roker Park.
10/12/1992
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan establishes the Marriage Fund in the United Arab Emirates in response to rising wedding prices.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was an Emirati politician, philanthropist, and the founding father of the United Arab Emirates. Zayed served as the governor of Eastern Region from 1946 until he became the ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966, and served as the first president of the United Arab Emirates from its independence on 2 December 1971 until his death in 2004. He is referred in the United Arab Emirates as the Father of the Nation for being the principal driving force behind the unification of the United Arab Emirates.
10/12/1991
The Nagorno-Karabakh independence referendum is held, with 99.98% voting in favor of independence.
An independence referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh on 10 December 1991. It was approved by 99.98% of voters.
Nursultan Nazarbayev is sworn in as the 1st President of Kazakhstan.
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev is a Kazakh politician who served as the first president of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2019. He also held the special title of Elbasy from 2010 to 2022 and chairman of the Security Council from 1991 to 2022.
The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic is renamed into the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Kazakhstan, the Kazakh SSR, KSSR, or simply Kazakhstan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Being located in northern Central Asia, the Kazakh SSR was created on 5 December 1936 from the erstwhile Kazakh ASSR, which was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR. It shared borders with its fellow Soviet republics of Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, while also sharing an international border with the People's Republic of China.
10/12/1989
Mongolian Revolution: At the country's first open pro-democracy public demonstration, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces the establishment of the Mongolian Democratic Union.
The Mongolian Revolution of 1990, known in Mongolia as the 1990 Democratic Revolution, was a peaceful democratic revolution that led to the country's transition to a multi-party system. It was inspired by the economic reforms of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and was one of the many revolutions of 1989. It was led mostly by young demonstrators who rallied at Sükhbaatar Square, in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar. One of the most critical groups that pushed for change was the Mongolian Democratic Union (MDU). The main organisers of the demonstrations included Sanjaasürengiin Zorig, Erdeniin Bat-Üül, Davaadorjiin Ganbold, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, and Bat-Erdeniin Batbayar. The revolution came to an end on 9 March 1990, when the entirety of the politburo of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) headed by Jambyn Batmönkh resigned.
10/12/1984
United Nations General Assembly recognizes the Convention against Torture.
The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 80th session, its powers, composition, functions, and procedures are set out in Chapter IV of the United Nations Charter.
10/12/1983
Democracy is restored in Argentina with the inauguration of President Raúl Alfonsín.
Democracy is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitive elections while more expansive or maximalist definitions link democracy to guarantees of civil liberties and human rights in addition to competitive elections.
10/12/1979
Kaohsiung Incident: Taiwanese pro-democracy demonstrations are suppressed by the KMT dictatorship, and organizers are arrested.
The Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, the Meilidao Incident, or the Formosa Magazine incident, was a crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations that occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on 10 December 1979 during Taiwan's martial law period.
10/12/1978
Arab–Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Since the declaration of Israel's establishment in 1948, conflict has existed between Israel and the surrounding Arab countries, rooted in conflict over territory also claimed by Palestinian Arabs. Zionists viewed the region of Palestine as the Jewish ancestral homeland, while Arabs saw it as Arab Palestinian land and an essential part of the Arab world. By 1920, sectarian conflict had begun with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the partition of Ottoman Syria by the 1916 Sykes–Picot treaty between Britain and France that became the basis for the Mandate for Palestine and the 1917 Balfour Declaration that expressed British support for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."
10/12/1968
Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved "300 million yen robbery", is carried out in Tokyo.
The 300 million yen robbery , also known as the 300 million yen affair or 300 million yen incident, was an armed robbery that took place in Tokyo, Japan, on December 10, 1968. A man posing as a police officer on a motorcycle stopped bank employees transferring money and stole 294 million yen. It is the single largest heist in Japanese history to date, and remains unsolved.
10/12/1963
Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy, under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.
Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small islands and two large ones: Unguja and Pemba Island. The capital is Zanzibar City, located on the island of Unguja. Its historic centre, Stone Town, is a World Heritage Site.
An assassination attempt on the British High Commissioner in Aden kills two people and wounds dozens more.
The 1963 Aden airport attack was an incident which saw the beginning of the Aden Emergency. Arab nationalists of the NLF made a grenade attack against the British High Commissioner, Sir Kennedy Trevaskis, immediately killing one person, a local woman, and injuring 50 others.
10/12/1953
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill receives the Nobel Prize in Literature.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a population of over 69 million in 2024. The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of the smaller islands within the British Isles, covering 94,354 square miles (244,376 km2). It shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea, while maintaining sovereignty over the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. The capital and largest city of England and the UK is London; Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively.
10/12/1949
Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan.
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermittently from 1 August 1927 until Communist victory resulted in their near-complete control over mainland China on 10 December 1949.
10/12/1948
The Human Rights Convention is signed by the United Nations.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and was also assisted in its work by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR).
10/12/1942
World War II: Government of Poland in exile send Raczyński's Note (the first official report on the Holocaust) to 26 governments who signed the Declaration by United Nations.
The Polish government-in-exile was formed in the aftermath of the September 1939 invasion and subsequent occupation of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Slovak Republic, which brought to an end the Second Polish Republic.
10/12/1941
World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers near British Malaya.
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.
World War II: Battle of the Philippines: Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on Luzon.
The Philippines campaign, also known as the Battle of the Philippines or the Fall of the Philippines, was the invasion of the Philippines by the Empire of Japan during the Pacific War and World War II. The operation to capture the islands, which was defended by the U.S. and Philippine Armies, was intended to prevent interference with Japan's expansion in Southeast Asia.
10/12/1936
Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII signs the Instrument of Abdication.
In early December 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire arose when King Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was in the process of divorcing her second.
10/12/1932
Thailand becomes a constitutional monarchy.
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, and formerly known as Siam until 1939, is a country located in Mainland Southeast Asia. It shares land borders with Myanmar to the west and northwest, Laos to the east and northeast, Cambodia to the southeast, and Malaysia to the south. Its maritime boundaries include the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, as well as maritime borders with Vietnam, Indonesia, and India. Thailand has a population of nearly 66 million people and covers an area of approximately 513,115 km2. The country's capital and largest city is Bangkok.
10/12/1909
Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first female writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf was a Swedish writer. She published her first novel, Gösta Berling's Saga, at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which she was awarded in 1909. In 1914, she was the first woman to be granted a membership of the Swedish Academy.
10/12/1907
The worst night of the Brown Dog riots in London, when 1,000 medical students, protesting against the existence of a memorial for animals that have been vivisected, clash with 400 police officers.
The Brown Dog affair was a political controversy about vivisection that raged in Britain from 1903 until 1910. It involved the infiltration of University of London medical lectures by Swedish feminists, battles between medical students and the police, police protection for the statue of a dog, a libel trial at the Royal Courts of Justice, and the establishment of a Royal Commission to investigate the use of animals in experiments. The affair became a cause célèbre that divided the country.
10/12/1906
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize in any field.
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Previously serving six months as vice president under William McKinley, Roosevelt became president after McKinley's assassination in 1901. He was 42 years old upon his first inauguration, making him the youngest person to hold the office.
10/12/1902
The opening of the reservoir of the Aswan Dam in Egypt.
The Aswan Low Dam or Old Aswan Dam is a gravity masonry buttress dam on the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. The dam was built by the British at the former first cataract of the Nile, and is located about 1000 km up-river and 690 km south-southeast of Cairo. When initially constructed between 1899 and 1902, nothing of its scale had ever been attempted; on completion, it was the largest masonry dam in the world. The dam was designed to provide storage of annual floodwater and augment dry season flows to support greater irrigation development and population growth in the lower Nile. The dam, originally limited in height by conservation concerns, worked as designed, but provided inadequate storage capacity for planned development and was raised twice: between 1907 and 1912 and again between 1929 and 1933. These heightenings still did not meet irrigation demands and in 1946 it was nearly over-topped in an effort to maximize pool elevation. This led to the investigation and construction of the Aswan High Dam 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) upstream.
10/12/1901
The first Nobel Prize ceremony is held in Stockholm on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.
The Nobel Prizes are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. The original Nobel Prizes covered five fields: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace, specified in Nobel's will. A sixth prize, the Prize in Economic Sciences, was established in 1968 by Sveriges Riksbank in memory of Alfred Nobel. The Nobel Prizes are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards available in their respective fields.
10/12/1898
Spanish–American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict. Spain cedes administration of Cuba to the United States, and the United States agrees to pay Spain $20 million for the Philippines.
The Spanish–American War was fought between Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the U.S. acquiring sovereignty over Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and establishing a protectorate over Cuba. It represented U.S. intervention in the Cuban War of Independence and Philippine Revolution, with the latter later leading to the Philippine–American War. The Spanish–American War brought an end to almost four centuries of Spanish presence in the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific; the United States meanwhile not only became a major world power, but also gained several island possessions spanning the globe, which provoked rancorous debate over the wisdom of expansionism.
10/12/1896
Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi premieres in Paris. A riot breaks out at the end of the performance.
Alfred Jarry was a French symbolist writer who is best known for his play Ubu Roi (1896), often cited as a forerunner of the Dada, Surrealist, and Futurist movements of the 1920s and 1930s and later the theatre of the absurd in the 1950s and 1960s. He also coined the term and philosophical concept of 'pataphysics.
10/12/1877
Russo-Turkish War: The Russian Army captures Plevna after a 5-month siege. The garrison of 25,000 surviving Turks surrenders. The Russian victory is decisive for the outcome of the war and the Liberation of Bulgaria.
The Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and a coalition led by the Russian Empire which included Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro. Precipitating factors included the Russian goals of recovering territorial losses endured during the Crimean War of 1853–1856, re-establishing itself in the Black Sea and supporting the political movement attempting to free Balkan nations from the Ottoman Empire.
10/12/1864
American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union Army troops reach the outer Confederate defenses of Savannah, Georgia.
Sherman's March to the Sea, officially known as the Savannah campaign, or simply Sherman's March, was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by United States Army Major General William T. Sherman. It began on November 15 with Sherman's troops leaving Atlanta, recently taken by Union forces under Sherman, and ended with the capture of the port of Savannah on December 21. Emulating the chevauchée of medieval European warfare, his forces followed a "scorched earth" policy, destroying military targets as well as industry, infrastructure, and civilian property, disrupting the Confederacy's economy and transportation networks.
10/12/1861
American Civil War: The Confederate States of America accept a rival state government's pronouncement that declares Kentucky to be the 12th state of the Confederacy.
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States. The South saw slavery as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.
Forces led by Nguyễn Trung Trực, an anti-colonial guerrilla leader in southern Vietnam, sink the French lorcha L'Esperance.
Nguyễn Trung Trực, born Nguyễn Văn Lịch, was a Vietnamese fisherman who organized and led village militia forces which fought against French colonial forces in the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam in the 1860s. He was active in Tân An and Rạch Giá from the initial French invasion until he was captured and executed.
10/12/1817
Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state.
Mississippi is a state in the Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the southwest, and Arkansas to the northwest. Mississippi's western boundary is largely defined by the Mississippi River, or its historical course. Mississippi is the 32nd largest by area and 35th-most populous of the 50 U.S. states and has the lowest per-capita income. Jackson is both the state's capital and largest city. Greater Jackson is the state's most populous metropolitan area, with a population of 591,978 in 2020. Other major cities include Gulfport, Southaven, Hattiesburg, Biloxi, Olive Branch, Tupelo, Meridian, and Greenville.
10/12/1799
France adopts the metre as its official unit of length.
A unit of length is any arbitrarily chosen and accepted reference standard for measurement of length. The most common units in modern use are the metric units, used in every country globally. In the United States the U.S. customary units are also in use. British Imperial units are still used for some purposes in the United Kingdom and some other countries. The metric system is sub-divided into SI and non-SI units.
10/12/1768
The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published.
The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published since 1768, and after several ownership changes is currently owned by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, which spans 32 volumes and 32,640 pages, was the last printed edition. Since 2016, it has been published exclusively as an online encyclopaedia at the website Britannica.com.
10/12/1684
Isaac 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.
Sir Isaac Newton was an English polymath who was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, author and inventor. He was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment that followed. His book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, first published in 1687, achieved the first great unification in physics and established classical mechanics. Newton also made seminal contributions to optics, and shares credit with the German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz for formulating infinitesimal calculus, although he developed calculus years before Leibniz. Newton contributed to and refined the scientific method, and his work is considered the most influential in bringing forth modern science.
10/12/1665
The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps is founded by Michiel de Ruyter.
The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps is the elite naval infantry corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy, one of the four Armed Forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The marines trace their origins to the establishment of the Regiment de Marine on 10 December 1665, by the then grand pensionary of the Dutch Republic, Johan de Witt and famous Admiral Michiel de Ruyter. It is the second-oldest still-active marine corps in the world.
10/12/1652
Defeat at the Battle of Dungeness causes the Commonwealth of England to reform its navy.
The naval Battle of Dungeness took place on 30 November 1652 during the First Anglo-Dutch War near the cape of Dungeness in Kent.
10/12/1541
Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham are executed for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII.
Thomas Culpeper was an English courtier and close friend of Henry VIII, and was related to two of his queens, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. He is known to have had many private meetings with Catherine during her marriage, though these may have involved political intrigue rather than sex. A letter to him was found, written by Queen Catherine and signed, "Yours as long as life endures." Accused of adultery with Henry's young consort, Culpeper denied it and blamed the Queen for the situation, saying that he had tried to end his friendship with her, but that she was "dying of love for him". Eventually, Culpeper admitted that he intended to sleep with the queen, though he never admitted to having actually done so. After being convicted of treason, Culpeper was executed by beheading in December, 1541.
10/12/1520
Martin Luther burns his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate.
Martin Luther was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation, and his theological beliefs form the basis of Lutheranism. He is considered one of the most influential figures in Western and Christian history.
10/12/1508
The League of Cambrai is formed by Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand II of Aragon as an alliance against Venice.
The War of the League of Cambrai, also known by its second stage as the War of the Holy League, was fought from December 1508 to December 1516, as part of the wider Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war, who fought for its entire duration, were France, the Holy Roman Empire, the Papal States, and the Republic of Venice; they were joined at various times by nearly every significant power in Western Europe, including Spain, England, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, the Duchy of Ferrara, and the Swiss.
10/12/1317
The Nyköping Banquet: Birger, King of Sweden treacherously seizes his two brothers, dukes Valdemar and Erik, who are subsequently starved to death in the dungeon of Nyköping Castle.
The Nyköping Banquet was King Birger of Sweden's Christmas celebration 11 December 1317 at Nyköping Castle in Sweden. Among the guests were his two brothers Duke Valdemar and Duke Eric, who later that night were imprisoned and have been assumed to have subsequently starved to death in the dungeon of Nyköping Castle. The principal source to these events is the very biased Eric Chronicle. The author Vilhelm Moberg called it "a Shakespearean episode" in his work Min svenska historia.