On This Day in History

May 10

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​Historical Events​

​1497 Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci leaves for his first voyage to the New World (disputed)

​1801 First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America (first US foreign war)

​1857 Indian mutiny against rule by the British East India Company begins with the revolt of the Sepoy soldiers in Meerut

The first Transcontinental Railroad is finished at last!

​1869 The Golden spike is driven, completing the first US Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah, connecting the Central Pacific Railroadwith the Union Pacific

​1940 Winston Churchill succeeds Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister at the head of a coalition government

​1994 Nelson Mandela is sworn in as South Africa's first Black president

More Historical Events

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​Famous Birthdays​

​John Wilkes Booth​ ​1838 - 1865

​Ariel Durant​ ​1898 - 1981

​Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin​ ​1900 - 1979

​Bono​ ​65th Birthday

Also Fred Astaire and Maybelle Carter​

More Famous Birthdays

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​Famous Deaths​

​Stonewall Jackson​ ​1824 - 1863

​Henry Morton Stanley​ ​1841 - 1904

More Famous Deaths

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​One-Man Mission of Rudolf Hess​

Rudolf Hess parachuted into Scotland on this day planning to negotiate peace with the British – without the knowledge or approval of his boss, Adolf Hitler.

Secret Peace Mission to End World War II