On This Day in History

December 10

Historical Events

1520 Martin Luther publicly burns papal edict demanding he recant.

1684 Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper “De motu corporum in gyrum” (On the motion of bodies in an orbit), is read to the Royal Society by Edmond Halley.

1799 Metric system first adopted in France.

1901 First Nobel Peace Prizes awarded, first recipients Red Cross founder Jean Henri Dunant and peace activist Frederic Passy.

The Windsors were caught off-guard in this famous photo

1936 Edward VIII signs Instrument of Abdication, giving up the British throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

1964 Nobel Peace Prize presented to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Oslo, Norway.

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Famous Birthdays

William Lloyd Garrison  1805 - 1879  Ada Lovelace  1815 - 1852

Emily Dickinson  1830 - 1886   Kenneth Branagh  63rd Birthday

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Famous Deaths

Alfred Nobel  1833 - 1896   Otis Redding  1941 - 1967

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Explosive Background to the Nobel Prize

Albert Nobel died on this day. His unique Nobel Prize legacy rewarded pioneers in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, peace, and economics.

History of the Nobel Prize