Events on May 10 60
Year 1291
Scottish nobles recognize the authority of Edward I of England pending the selection of a king.
Year 1503
Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous turtles there.
Year 1655
England, with troops under the command of Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables, annexes Jamaica from Spain.
Year 1688
King Narai nominates his daughter Sudawadi to succeed him with Constantine Phaulkon, Mom Pi and Phetracha acting as regents. The ensuing revolution leads to the Ayutthaya Kingdom severing all ties with Europe.
Year 1768
John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for The North Briton severely criticizing King George III. This action provokes rioting in London.
Year 1773
The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.
Year 1775
American Revolutionary War: A small Colonial militia led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold captures Fort Ticonderoga.
Year 1775
American Revolutionary War: Representatives from the Thirteen Colonies begin the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
Year 1796
War of the First Coalition: Napoleon I of France wins a victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the Adda River in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men.
Year 1801
First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America.
Year 1833
The desecration of the grave of the viceroy of southern Vietnam Lê Văn Duyệt by Emperor Minh Mạng provokes his adopted son to start a revolt.
Year 1837
Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
Year 1849
Astor Place Riot: A riot breaks out at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New York City over a dispute between actors Edwin Forrest and William Charles Macready, killing at least 25 and injuring over 120.
Year 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857: In India, the first war of Independence begins. Sepoys mutiny against their commanding officers at Meerut.
Year 1864
American Civil War: Colonel Emory Upton leads a 10-regiment "Attack-in-depth" assault against the Confederate works at The Battle of Spotsylvania, which, though ultimately unsuccessful, would provide the idea for the massive assault against the Bloody Angle on May 12. Upton is slightly wounded but is immediately promoted to brigadier general.
Year 1865
American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by U.S. troops near Irwinville, Georgia.
Year 1865
American Civil War: In Kentucky, Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate raider William Quantrill, who lingers until his death on June 6.
Year 1866
Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen is crowned the Ruling Prince of the United Principalities of Romania.
Year 1869
The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah with the golden spike.
Year 1872
Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States.
Year 1876
The Centennial Exposition is opened in Philadelphia by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant and Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro II.
Year 1877
Romania declares itself independent from the Ottoman Empire following the Senate adoption of Mihail Kogălniceanu's Declaration of Independence.
Year 1904
The Horch & Cir. Motorwagenwerke AG is founded. It would eventually become the Audi company.
Year 1908
Mother's Day is observed for the first time in the United States, in Grafton, West Virginia.
Year 1916
Sailing in the lifeboat James Caird, Ernest Shackleton arrives at South Georgia after a journey of 800 nautical miles from Elephant Island.
Year 1924
J. Edgar Hoover is appointed first Director of the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and remains so until his death in 1972.
Year 1940
World War II: German raids on British shipping convoys and military airfields begin.
Year 1940
World War II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain.
Year 1941
World War II: The House of Commons in London is damaged by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.
Year 1941
World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland to try to negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany.
Year 1942
World War II: The Thai Phayap Army invades the Shan States during the Burma Campaign.
Year 1946
First successful launch of an American V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground.
Year 1948
The Republic of China implements "temporary provisions" granting President Chiang Kai-shek extended powers to deal with the Communist uprising; they will remain in effect until 1991.
Year 1954
Bill Haley & His Comets release "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts.
Year 1960
The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes Operation Sandblast, the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.
Year 1967
The Northrop M2-F2 crashes on landing, becoming the inspiration for the novel Cyborg and TV series The Six Million Dollar Man.
Year 1969
Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Ap Bia begins with an assault on Hill 937. It will ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill.
Year 1970
Bobby Orr scores "The Goal"[1][better source needed] to win the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals, for the Boston Bruins' fourth NHL championship in their history.
Year 1972
In the Vietnam War, the US had two fighter ace crews. The USAF's Ritchie and DeBellevue scored their first kill while the USN's Cunningham and Driscoll scored their third, fourth and fifth kills.
Year 1981
François Mitterrand wins the presidential election and becomes the first Socialist President of France in the French Fifth Republic.
Year 1997
The 7.3 Mw Qayen earthquake strikes Iran's Khorasan Province, killing 1,567, injuring over 2,300, leaving 50,000 homeless, and damaging or destroying over 15,000 homes.
Year 2002
FBI agent Robert Hanssen is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for selling United States secrets to Russia for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
Year 2005
A hand grenade thrown by Vladimir Arutyunian lands about 65 feet (20 meters) from U.S. President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctions and does not detonate.
Year 2012
The Damascus bombings are carried out using a pair of car bombs detonated by suicide bombers outside of a military intelligence complex in Damascus, Syria, killing 55 people and injuring 400 others.
Year ?
A sunspot is observed by Han dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, one of the earliest dated sunspot observations in China.
Year ?
Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, opens a full-scale assault on Jerusalem and attacks the city's Third Wall to the northwest.