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On this day in history - October 10

What Happened On This Day – October 10

  • 2010 The Country of Netherlands Antilles is Dissolved

    The Caribbean Dutch dependency, also sometimes known as the Dutch Antilles, was formed in 1954. The dissolution came after a series of referendums to become independent states within the Kingdom of the Netherlands were passed on the Islands of Curaçao, St Maarten, Bonaire, and Saba.

  • 1970 Fijian Independence

    The South Pacific Ocean island country had been ruled by the British since 1874. Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara became the first prime minister of independent Fiji.

  • 1967 Outer Space Treaty is Enforced

    Also known as the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, it regulated the exploration and use of outer space and created the field of international space law. The treaty declared that outer space and all celestial bodies were the common heritage of mankind and could not be claimed by any one nation.

  • 1964 The Tokyo Summer Olympics Begin

    93 countries participated in the first Olympics to be held in Asia. As a tribute to the horrors of the Second World War, Yoshinori Sakai, who was born in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, the day an atomic bomb destroyed the city, was chosen as the torchbearer to light the Olympic flame during the opening. The Tokyo Olympics was also the first Olympic Games that used satellites - Syncom 3 in the United States and Relay 1 in Europe - to telecast the games. Some of the games were also broadcasted in color for the first time.

  • 1933 United Airlines Boeing 247 explosion

    In one of the oldest unsolved cases in aviation history, the airplane which was flying from Newark, New Jersey to Oakland California exploded mid-air and crashed near Chesterton, Indiana. All 7 passengers and crew members died in the incident. To this day, it is not known what and who caused the explosion.

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
October 10

  • 1979 Mýa

    American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, actress

  • 1969 Brett Favre

    American football player

  • 1930 Harold Pinter

    English playwright, screenwriter, director, actor, Nobel Prize laureate

  • 1861 Fridtjof Nansen

    Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian, Nobel Prize laureate

  • 1813 Giuseppe Verdi

    Italian composer

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
October 10

  • 2010 Solomon Burke

    American singer-songwriter

  • 2009 Stephen Gately

    Irish singer-songwriter, dancer, actor

  • 2004 Christopher Reeve

    American actor

  • 1985 Orson Welles

    American actor, director, producer, screenwriter

  • 1875 Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy

    Russian poet, author, playwright