Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (131st in leap years). There are 235 days remaining. Table of contents 1 Events 2 Births 3 Deaths 4 Holidays and Observances Events 1291 - Scottish nobles recognize the authority of King Edward I of England. 1497 - Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cadiz for his first voyage to the New World. 1503 - Christopher Columbus discovers the Cayman Islands and he names them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles there. 1534 - Jacques Cartier discovers Newfoundland. 1768 - John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for the North Briton severely criticizing King George III. This action provokes rioting in London. 1774 - Louis XVI becomes King of France. 1775 - American Revolutionary War: Fort Ticonderoga is taken by a small force led by Colonel Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen. 1796 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France wins a decisive victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the River Adda in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men. 1837 - Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels. 1857 - Indian Mutiny: In India, the Sepoys revolt against the British Army. 1865 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia. 1869 - The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Point, Utah. 1872 - Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States. 1877 - Romania declares itself independent from Turkey, recognized on March 26, 1881 after the end of the Romanian independence war. 1908 - Mother's Day is observed for the first time (Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virgina). 1924 - J. Edgar Hoover is appointed head the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 1933 - Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings. 1940 - World War II: Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. 1940 - World War II: Winston Churchill appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1941 - World War II: The United Kingdom's House of Commons is destroyed by the Luftwaffe in an air raid. 1941 - World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland claiming to be on a peace mission. 1954 - Bill Haley and the Comets release "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the charts. 1960 - The nuclear submarine USS Nautilus completes the first under water circumnavigation of the earth. 1979 - The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing. 1988 - Michel Rocard becomes Prime Minister of France 1994 - Illinois executes serial killer John Wayne Gacy for the murder of 33 young men and boys. 1997 - An earthquake near Ardekul in northeastern Iran kills at least 2,400. 2001 - In Ghana, a stampede at a soccer game kills over 120. 2002 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is given a life sentenced without the possibility of parole for selling American secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds. Births 1727 - Anne Robert Turgot, statesman († 1781) 1760 - Johann Peter Hebel, poet († 1826) 1838 - John Wilkes Booth, actor, assassin of Abraham Lincoln († 1865) 1841 - James Gordon Bennett Jr, publisher († 1918) 1878 - Gustav Stresemann, politician and recipient of the Nobel Prize in peace 1926 († 1929) 1888 - Max Steiner, composer († 1971) 1890 - Alfred Jodl, German general († 1946) 1899 - Fred Astaire, singer, dancer, actor († 1987) 1899 - Dimitri Tiomkin, composer († 1979) 1902 - David O. Selznick, Hollywood film producer († 1965) 1902 - Anatole Litvak, film director († 1974) 1909 - Mother Maybelle Carter, country musician 1916 - Milton Babbitt, composer 1930 - Pat Summerall, American football player, broadcaster 1933 - Barbara Taylor Bradford, writer 1944 - Jim Abrahams, director 1946 - Donovan Leitch, musician 1946 - Dave Mason, musician ("Traffic") 1955 - Mark David Chapman, assassin 1957 - Sid Vicious, bassist of The Sex Pistols († 1979) 1960 - Bono, singer of U2 1966 - Jonathan Edwards, British triple jumper 1973 - Dario Franchitti, automobile racer 1975 - Hélio Castroneves, Brazilian Indy Car driver, two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Deaths 1717 - John Hathorn, magistrate 1818 - Paul Revere, engraver, American patriot 1863 - Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Confederate general 1955 - Tommy Burns, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion 1977 - Joan Crawford, actress 1985 - Chester Gould, cartoonist 1990 - Walker Percy, author 1994 - John Wayne Gacy, serial killer (executed) 1999 - Shel Silverstein, poet, composer Holidays and Observances Confederate Memorial Day in North Carolina and South Carolina See Also: May 9 - May 11 - April 10 - June 10 -- listing of all days January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.