On this day in History - Dec. 10

• 0741 - Pope_Zachary begins his Papacy.
• 0949 - Herman I, Duke of Swabia dies.
• 1041 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V.
• 1041 - Michael IV dies (b. 1010). Byzantine Emperor.
• 1198 - Averroes dies (b. 1126). Arab physician and philosopher.
• 1394 - King James I of Scotland was born (d. 1437).
• 1452 - Johannes Stöffler was born (d. 1531). German mathematician and astronomer.
• 1508 - The League of Cambrai is formed by Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand II of Aragon as an alliance against Venice.
• 1508 - René II, Duke of Lorraine dies (b. 1451).
• 1520 - Martin Luther burns his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate.
• 1541 - Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham are executed for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII.
• 1582 - Adoption du calendrier grégorien par la France.
• 1588 - Isaac Beeckman was born (d. 1637). Dutch scientist and philosopher.
• 1603 - William Gilbert dies (b. 1544). English scientist.
• 1616 - Diogo do Couto dies in Goa (b. c. 1542),. Portuguese historian and writer.
• 1618 - Giulio Caccini dies (b. 1551). Italian composer.
• 1626 - Edmund Gunter dies (b. 1581). English mathematician.
• 1665 - The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps was founded by Michiel de Ruyter.
• 1665 - Tarquinio Merula dies (b. 1594 or 1595). Italian composer.
• 1684 - Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmund Halley.
• 1736 - António Manoel de Vilhena dies (b. 1663). Portuguese ruler of Malta.
• 1750 - Tipu Sultan was born (d. 1799). ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore .
• 1751 - George Shaw was born (d. 1813). English botanist and zoologist.
• 1787 - Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was born (d. 1851). American educator.
• 1801 - Criação da Guarda Real de Polícia, primeiro corpo especial de polícia existente em Portugal.
• 1799 - En France, adoption du système métrique.
• 1804 - Carl Jacobi was born (d. 1851). German mathematician.
• 1805 - Josef Skoda was born (d. 1881). Bohemian physician.
• 1815 - Portugal: É criado o concelho do Cartaxo.
• 1815 - Ada Lovelace was born in London (d. 1852). British mathematician and musician, is best known as the first computer programmer. Her father was the British poet, Lord Byron.
• 1817 - Mississippi became the 20th state in the United States.
• 1820 - Princess Elizabeth of Clarence was born (d. 1821).
• 1821 - Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov was born (d. 1877). Russian poet.
• 1822 - César Franck was born (d. 1890). Belgian composer and organist.
• 1824 - George MacDonald was born (d. 1905). British writer and preacher.
• 1827 - Eugene O'Keefe was born (d. 1913). Canadian businessman and brewer.
• 1830 - Emily Dickinson was born in Amhers, Massachusets (d. 1886). American poet. She is widely considered one of the greatest poets in American literature.
• 1831 - Thomas Seebeck dies (b. 1770). Baltic German physicist.
• 1835 - The social reform and literary movement Young Germany was identified collectively by that name in a resolution passed by the Diet of the German Confederation that demanded suppression of their writings.
• 1836 - A importação e exportação de escravos nos territórios portugueses a Sul do Equador foi proibida. É a primeira medida efectiva promulgada em Portugal contra o tráfico esclavagista
• 1836 - Emory College (now Emory University) is chartered in Oxford, Georgia.
• 1837 - Miguel Vieira Ferreira was born (d. 1895). Brazilian mathematician, writer and republican.
• 1845 - Robert Thompson, civil engineer. patented pneumatic tyres in London
• 1848 - France: Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte is elected Presdent of Republic
• 1850 - In the United States, following the Compromise of 1850, a Georgia state convention adopted the Georgia Platform in qualified support for the Union.
• 1850 - François Sulpice Beudant dies (b. 1787). French mineralogist and geologist.
• 1851 - Melvil Dewey was born in Philadelphia (d. 1931). American librarian who invented the Dewey Decimal System.
• 1855 - Marios Varvoglis was born (d. 1967). Greek composer.
• 1859 - Batalla de Santa Inés, librada en la población homónima en el Estado Barinas, Venezuela en la cual triunfaron los federalistas al mando del General Ezequiel Zamora-
• 1861 - American Civil War: the Confederate States of America accept a rival state government's pronouncement that declares Kentucky to be the 13th state of the Confederacy.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea - Major General William T. Sherman's Union Army troops reach Savannah, Georgia.
• 1865 - King Léopold I of Belgium dies (b. 1790).
• 1868 - The first traffic lights are installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.
• 1869 - The territory of Wyoming authorized women to vote and hold office.
• 1869 - The first American chapter of Kappa Sigma is founded at the University of Virginia.
• 1870 - Adolf Loos was born (d. 1933). Austrian architect.
• 1870 - Mary Bonaparte was born (d. 1947). Pretender to the French imperial throne.
• 1870 - Pierre Louÿs was born (d. 1925). French author.
• 1872 - Baptista Cepellos was born in Cotia (SP) (d. 8 May 1915). Brazilian poet.
• 1872 - Don Lorenzo Perosi was born (d. 1956). Italian composer.
• 1878 - Rajaji was born (d. 1972). India's freedom fighter and the first Governor General of independent India.
• 1880 - Fred Immler was born (d. 1965). German actor.
• 1882 - Otto Neurath was born (d. 1945). Austrian philosopher.
• 1884 - Zinaida Serebryakova was born (d. 1967). Russian-born painter.
• 1886 - Marco Minghetti was born (d. 1813). Italian statesman.
• 1891 - Nelly Sachs was born. German Jewish poet and dramatist who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1966.
• 1891 - Sir Harold Alexander was born (d. 1969). British Army Field Marshal, first Earl of Tunis.
• 1896 - Alfred Nobel dies (b. 1833). Swedish inventor and founder of the Nobel Prize.
• 1898 - Representatives of Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris, concluding the Spanish-American War.
• 1898 - The first western pilgrims were welcomed at The House of `Abdu'lláh Páshá.
• 1899 - The Delta Sigma Phi fraternity is founded at the City College of New York.
• 1901 - The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace.
• 1902 - Women are given the right to vote in Tasmania.
• 1902 - After four years of construction, the Aswan Dam, Egypt, is declared completed today.
• 1902 - José Olympio was born in Batataia, São Paulo. Brazilian editor.
• 1903 - Pierre and Marie Curie were awarded the Nobel Physics Prize.
• 1903 - Una Merkel was born (d. 1986). American actress.
• 1904 - The Pi Kappa Phi fraternity is founded in Charleston, South Carolina.
• 1904 - Ivan Pavlov won The Nobel of Physiology or Medicine Prize .
• 1906 - US President Theodore Roosevelt became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for helping to mediate an end to the Russo-Japanese War.
• 1907 - The worst night of the Brown Dog riots in London, when 1,000 medical students clashed with 400 police officers over the existence of a memorial for animals who have been vivisected.
• 1907 - Joseph Rudyard Kipling receives The Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1907 - Lucien Laurent was born (d. 2005). French international footballer.
• 1907 - Rumer Godden (Margaret Rumer Godden) was born (d. 1998). English writer.
• 1908 - Olivier Messiaen was born (d. 1992). French composer and ornithologist.
• 1909 - Hermes Pan was born (d. 1990). American choreographer and dancer.
• 1910 - Tenor Enrico Caruso and conductor Arturo Toscanini were featured at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City for the world premiere of Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West.
• 1911 - Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker dies (b. 1817). British botanist
• 1911 - Marie Curie recebe o seu segundo Prémio Nobel, o de Química.
• 1911 - Chet Huntley was born (d. 20 Mar 1974). American journalist. Emmy Award-winning newscaster: co-anchor [w/David Brinkley]: The Huntley-Brinkley Report [1958-1959, 1959-1960, 1960-1961, 1961-1962, 1962-1963, 1963-1964].
• 1911 - Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker dies (b. 1817). British botanist.
• 1912 - Philip A. Hart was born (d. 1976). U.S. Senator.
• 1913 - Harry Locke was born (d. 1987). English actor.
• 1913 - Morton Gould was born (d. 21 Feb 1996). American Pulitzer Prize-winning composer: Stringmusic [1995]; Fall River Legend, Billion Dollar Baby; film score: Delightfully Dangerous.
• 1914 - Dorothy Lamour was born (d. 22 Sep 1996). American actress (Road to Singapore and other ‘Road’ movies with Bob Hope; The Love Goddesses, Pajama Party, Donovan’s Reef, The Greatest Show on Earth, The Hurricane; Miss New Orleans [1931].
• 1915 - Ford produz o milionésimo carro modelo T.
• 1917 - Sultan Yahya Petra was born (d. 1979). King of Malaysia.
• 1917 - Sir Mackenzie Bowell dies (b. 1823). Fifth Prime Minister of Canada.
• 1918 - Anne Gwynne was born (d. 2003). American actress.
• 1918 - Anatoli Tarasov was born (d. 1995). Russian hockey coach.
• 1919 - Alexander Courage was born. American composer.
• 1920 - Clarice Lispector was born (d. 9 Dec 1977). Ukrainian-Brazilian writer.
• 1920 - Reginald Rose was born (d. 2002). American writer.
• 1920 - Horace Elgin Dodge dies (b. 1868). American automobile manufacturing pioneer.
• 1922 - Albert Einstein wins The Nobel Prize for Physics.
• 1922 - Lucía Hiriart was born. First Lady of Chile (1974-1990), wife of Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet
• 1923 - Wilson Grey was born in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian actor.
• 1923 - Harold Gould was born. American actor: Romero, Dream Chasers, Seems Like Old Times, Kenny Rogers as the Gambler, The Sting, Rhoda, Under One Roof, The Golden Girls, Spencer, Singer & Sons, He & She, The Feather and Father Gang.
• 1924 - Ken Albers was born. Bass singer (group : The Four Freshmen). LPs: And Five Trumpets, And Five Saxes, In Person, Voices in Love, And Five Guitars.
• 1924 - Michael Manley was born (d. 1997). Prime Minister of Jamaica.
• 1925 - Carolyn Kizer was born. American poet.
• 1925 - Jean Byron was born (d. 2006). American actress.
• 1926 - Nikola Pašić dies (b. 1845). Kingdom of Serbia and Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes prime minister.
• 1927 - Joe Olivier was born (d. 25 Dec 2001). Musician, guitarist ( group Bill Haley and His Comets [1957, 1958]; solo as Cappy Bianco.
• 1928 - Dan Blocker was born (d. 13 May1972). American actor (Bonanza, Cimarron City, Come Blow Your Horn, Lady in Cement, Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County).
• 1928 - John Colicos was born (d. 2000). Canadian actor.
• 1928 - Charles Rennie Mackintosh dies (b. 1868). British architect, designer, and illustrator
• 1930 - Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded the haunting Mood Indigo on Victor Records. It became one of the Duke’s most famous standards.
• 1931 - Jane Addams became a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (jointly with Nicholas Murray Butler), the first American woman so honored.
• 1932 - Thailand adopts a Constitution and becomes a constitutional monarchy.
• 1933 - Mako was born (d. 21 Jul 2006). Japanese-born American actor (Red Sun Rising, Sidekicks, Taking Care of Business, Pacific Heights, Kung Fu: The Movie, Conan the Destroyer, Sand Pebbles, Hawaiian Heat)
• 1934 - Howard Martin Temin was born (d. 1994). American geneticist and Nobel Prize laureate
• 1935 - The Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, later renamed the Heisman Trophy, was given to halfback Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago. This award was given to the best college football player east the Mississippi River.
• 1935 - Terry Allcock was born. English footballer.
• 1936 - Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII signs his Instrument of Abdication. He abdicated the British throne to pursue a relationship with a married American woman, the only British monarch to voluntarily surrender the crown. He subsequently became the Duke of Windsor, his brother was crowned George VI
• 1936 - Bobby Abel dies (b. 1857). English test cricketer.
• 1936 - Luigi Pirandello dies (b. 1867). Italian writer and Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1938 - Porter Goss was born. American politician, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
• 1938 - Yuri Temirkanov was born. Russian orchestral conductor.
• 1938 - Porter Goss, American politician, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
• 1938 - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk dies (b. 1881). The founder of the Republic of Turkey and its first President.
• 1938 - Yuri Temirkanov was born. Russian orchestral conductor.
• 1939 - Barry Cunliffe was born. English university professor.
• 1941 - World War II: Battle of the Philippines - Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on the Philippine mainland.
• 1941 - World War II: Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse - The Royal Navy ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers.
• 1941 - Chad Stuart was born. British folk singer (Chad and Jeremy).
• 1941 - Fionnula Flanagan was born. Irish actress (Rich Man, Poor Man, Money for Nothing, Youngblood, Picture of Dorian Gray, How the West was Won, Hard Copy).
• 1941 - Tommy Kirk was born. American actor (Blood of Ghastly Horror, Village of the Giants, Pajama Party, Son of Flubber, The Absent-Minded Professor, The Swiss Family Robinson, The Shaggy Dog, Old Yeller, Bikini Beach).
• 1941 - Tommy Rettig was born (d. 1996). American actor (Lassie, The Cobweb, River of No Return, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T).
• 1941 - Colin Kelly dies (b. 1915). American pilot.
• 1942 - World War II North Africa- A strong German attack at Medjez el Bab, Tunisia, is turned by British and Free French defenders.
• 1944 - Steve Renko was born. American baseball player.
• 1944 - John Henry Cound Brunt dies (b. 1922). Victoria Cross holder.
• 1945 - Netherlands joins to United Nations.
• 1945 - Theodor Dannecker dies (b. 1913). SS officer.
• 1946 - Damon Runyon dies (b. 1884). American writer.
• 1946 - Thomas Lux was born. American poet.
• 1946 - Walter Johnson dies (b. 1887). American baseball player.
• 1947 - Douglas Kenney was born (d. 1980). American humorist.
• 1947 - Rainer Seifert was born. German field hockey player.
• 1947 - Rasul Guliyev was born. Azerbaijani politician and chairman of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party.
• 1948 - The United Nations General Assembly adopted its Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
• 1948 - Abu Abbas was born (d. 2004). Founder of the Palestine Liberation Front.
• 1949 - Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan.
• 1950 - William Faulkner won the Nobel Literature Prize.
• 1950 Dr. Ralph Bunche became the first black to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. He was undersecretary of the U.N. at the time.
• 1950 - Tom Towles was born. American actor.
• 1951 - Ellen Nikolaysen was born. Norwegian singer.
• 1951 - Algernon Blackwood dies (b. 1869). British writer.
• 1952 - Clive Anderson was born. British television host.
• 1952 - Susan Dey was born. American actress.
• 1953 - Winston Churchill, English Prrime-Minister, receives the Nobel of Literature.
• 1953 - Dr. Albert Schweitzer is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work.
• 1953 - With an investment of $7,600, Hugh Hefner published the first Playboy magazine. There is no date printed on the first issue - now a collector’s item. The reason, according to Hef, is that he doubted anyone would expect a second issue to be printed. Included in this first issue: A classic, nude, calendar photo of actress Marilyn Monroe.
• 1953 - Abdullah Yusuf Ali dies (b. 1872). Indian-born scholar and translator.
• 1954 - Ernest Hemingway, American writer, receives The Nobel prize in Literature.
• 1954 - Jack Hues was born. English musician.
• 1954 - Óscar de Lemos dies. Portuguese actor.
• 1955 - Jacquelyn Mitchard was born. American novelist.
• 1956 - Roberto Cassinelli was born. Italian politician and lawyer.
• 1956 - Tim Kurkjian was born. American baseball writer and analyst for ESPN.
• 1957 - Michael Clarke Duncan was born. American actor.
• 1957 - Paul Hardcastle was born. English composer and musician.
• 1957 - Prem Rawat, known also as Guru Maharaj Ji and Maharaji, was born. American Indian spiritual leader and speaker.
• 1957 - Prem Rawat was born. known also as Maharaji. Indian orator.
• 1958 - the first domestic passenger jet flight took place in the U.S. as a National Airlines Boeing 707 flew 111 passengers from New York to Miami in about 21/2 hours.
• 1958 - Floriano Peixoto was born in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian actor.
• 1958 - Adolfo Camarillo dies (b. 1864). American prominent land owner, horse breeder, and rancher.
• 1959 - Mark Aguirre was born. American basketball player.
• 1960 - Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli is the first black African to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1960 - Kenneth Branagh was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Actor (Henry V, Another Country, Othello, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Much Ado About Nothing, Look Back in Anger) director, and writer who is best known for his film adaptations of Shakespearean plays and for his magnetic and often whimsical performances.
• 1961 - Rompimento de relações entre a União Soviética e a Albânia.
• 1961 - O exército da União Indiana invadiu e ocupou Goa, Damão e Diu.
• 1962 - Cássia Eller was born in Rio de Janeiro (d. 2001). Brazilian singer.
• 1962 - John de Wolf was born. Dutch International footballer.
• 1963 - The United States Air Force's X-20 Dyna-Soar spaceplane program is cancelled by Robert McNamara.
• 1964 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., received the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the youngest person to have earned the award.
• 1964 - Bobby Flay was born. American celebrity chef and restaurateur.
• 1964 - Luma de Oliveira was born. Brazilian model and entrepreneur.
• 1965 - The Grateful Dead play their first concert, at the Fillmore in San Francisco.
• 1965 - J Mascis was born. American musician.
• 1965 - Stephanie Morgenstern was born. Canadian actress.
• 1966 - Mel Rojas was born. Dominican baseball player.
• 1967 - Harland Williams was born. Canadian actor.
• 1967 - Otis Redding and four members of the Bar-Kays (Otis’ backup group) die in the crash of his private plane in Wisconsin (b. 1941). American soul singer.
• 1968 - Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved "300 million yen robbery", occurs in Tokyo.
• 1968 - George Forrest dies (b. 1921). Northern Irish MP.
• 1968 - Karl Barth dies (b. 1886). Swiss theologian.
• 1968 - Thomas Merton dies (b. 1915). American monk and author.
• 1969 - Jerôme Palatsi was born. French football goalkeeper.
• 1969 - Paulo Alves was born. Portuguese football player.
• 1969 - Rob Blake was born. Canadian hockey player.
• 1969 - Carlos Marighella dies. Brazilian politician.
• 1970 - Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, "father of the Green Revolution", is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1970 - Luciana Vendramini was born. Brazilian model and actress.
• 1971 - Carla Sacramento was born. Portuguese athlete.
• 1971 - The longest non-scoring pass in NFL history was made Jim Hart of the St. Louis Cardinals passed from his own one-yard-line to Bobby Moore, known now as Ahmad Rashad, who was tackled on the Los Angeles Rams’ one-yard-line. The pass officially went for 98 yards.
• 1971 - Brian Nichols was born. Charged with the murder of Rowland W. Barnes and two others on March 11, 2005.
• 1972 - The American League votes to adopt the Designated Hitter position for the following season.
• 1972 - Brian Molko was born. Belgian-born singer and songwriter (Placebo).
• 1972 - Dimitri Tikovoi was born. French-born record producer.
• 1972 - Marcos di Palma was born. Argentine racing driver.
• 1973 - Daniela Spanic and Gabriela Spanic were born. Venezuelan models and actresses.
• 1973 - Wolf Vishniac dies (b. 1922). American microbiologist.
• 1974 - Evandro Santo was born, Brazilian humourist.
• 1974 - Meg White was born. American drummer (The White Stripes).
• 1975 - Andrei Sakharov wins the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize is accepted by his wife, Yelena Bonner
• 1975 - Josip Skoko was born. Australian footballer.
• 1975 - Steve Bradley was born (d. 2008). American professional wrestler.
• 1977 - Vicente Aleixandre y Merlo receives The Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1997 - Emmanuelle Chriqui was born. Canadian actress.
• 1977 - Mr. Águila was born. Mexican professional wrestler.
• 1977 - Adolph Rupp dies (b. 1901). American college basketball coach.
• 1978 - Arab-Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1978 - Brandon Novak was born. American skateboarder.
• 1978 - Donna Williams was born. Co-founder of Neopets.
• 1978 - Summer Phoenix was born. American actress.
• 1978 - Tatiana Lemos was born. Brazilian swimmer.
• 1978 - Edward D. Wood, Jr. dies (b. 1924). American filmmaker.
• 1978 - Emilio Portes Gil dies. President of Mexico (1928-1930).
• 1979 - Matt Bentley was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1979 - Ann Dvorak dies (b. 1912). American film actress.
• 1980 - Alexa Rae was born. American actress.
• 1980 - Massari was born. Lebanese-born Canadian singer.
• 1980 - Sarah Chang was born. American violinist.
• 1981 - During the Ministerial Session of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels, Spain signes the Protocol of Accession of Spain to the North Atlantic Treaty (1981)> to NATO.
• 1981 - The United Nations General Assembly approves Pakistan proposal for establishing nuclear free-zone in South Asia.
• 1981 - Fábio Rochemback was born. Brazilian footballer.
• 1981 - Ryan Pini was born. Papua New Guinea swimmer and Commonwealth Games Gold medalist.
• 1981 - Taufik Batisah was born. Singaporean singer.
• 1982 - A treaty codifying the Law of the Sea was signed by 117 countries.
• 1982 - Shilpa Anand was born. Indian film and television actress.
• 1982 - Tim Deegan was born. MuchMusic VJ.
• 1982 - Freeman F. Gosden dies (b. 1899). American actor.
• 1983 - Democracy is restored in Argentina with the assumption of President Raúl Alfonsín.
• 1983 - Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, accepted by his wife, Danuta.
• 1983 - Habib Mohamed was born. Ghanaian footballer.
• 1983 - Katrin Siska was born. Estonian singer.
• 1983 - Patrick Flueger was born. American actor.
• 1983 - Zé Kalanga was born. Angolan football player.
• 1984 - Apartheid: Cleric and activist Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1984 - Jayson Paul was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1985 - T. J. Hensick was born. American professional ice hockey player
• 1985 - Raven-Symoné was born. American actress and singer.
• 1985 - Jaime Rivera dies (b. 1969). Puertorican Electrophysiologist.
• 1986 - The Holocaust: Elie Wiesel is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1986 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan declares the date Human Rights Day in the United States.
• 1986 - Matthew Bates was born. English footballer.
• 1986 - Ryoichi Tsukada was born. Japanese acrobat.
• 1986 - Tsukada Ryoichi was born. Japanese Acrobat and Pop Idol.
• 1986 - Kate Wolf dies (b. 1942). American folk singer and songwriter.
• 1986 - Susan Cabot dies murdered (b. 1927). American actress.
• 1987 - Gonzalo Higuaín was born. French-born Argentinian football player.
• 1987 - Jascha Heifetz dies (b. 1901). Russian-born violinist.
• 1988 - Richard S. Castellano dies (b. 1933). American actor.
• 1989 - Tomada de posse do primeiro governo não-comunista da Checoslováquia, desde 1948.
• 1989 - Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj announced the establishment of Mongolia's democratic movement that peacefully changed the second oldest communist country into a democratic society.
• 1989 - Camilo José Cela Trulock receives The Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1990 - Giulia Boverio was born. Italian actress.
• 1990 - Armand Hammer dies (b. 1898). American industrialist and art collector.
• 1991 - Nagorno-Karabakh proclaims its independency after a referendum (which remains unrecognized).
• 1991 - Celestino Alves dies (b. 1929). Brazilian poet, writer and popular composer.
• 1991 - Greta Kempton dies (b. 1901). American artist.
• 1991 - Headman Shabalala dies (b. 1901). South African singer and member of Ladysmith Black Mambazo
• 1992 - The Portuguese Parlament aproves The Maastricht Treaty.
• 1992 - Dan Maskell dies (b. 1908). English tennis commentator.
• 1993 - The last shift left Wearmouth Colliery in Sunderland. The closure of the 156-year-old pit marked the end of the old County Durham coalfield, which had been in operation since the Middle Ages.
• 1993 - Premier voyage officiel du train reliant la France et l'Angleterre sous la Manche.
• 1993 - First release of the videogame Doom.
• 1993 - Rachel Trachtenburg was born. American drummer and singer (Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players)
• 1994 - Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin received the Nobel Peace Prize, pledging to pursue their mission of healing the anguished Middle East.
• 1994 - Kenny G’s Miracles: The Holiday Album was number one in the U.S. It became the best selling Christmas album in history, selling over 8 million albums as of 2000
• 1994 - Alexander Wilson dies (b. 1905). Canadian and Notre Dame athlete.
• 1994 - Keith Joseph dies (b. 1918). British politician.
• 1995 - Darren Robinson dies (b. 1967). American rapper (The Fat Boys).
• 1996 - South African President Nelson Mandela signed a new constitution that completed a transition from a long period of white-minority rule (apartheid) to full-fledged democracy.
• 1996 - Rwandan Genocide: Military Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations Maurice Baril recommends that the UN multi-national forces in Zaire stand down.
• 1996 - Faron Young dies (b. 1932). American singer.
• 1998 - José Saramago, portuguese writer becomes the first writer of Portuguese language to receive The Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1999 - Fernando de la Rua assumes the Presidency of Argentina.
• 1999 - Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee was arrested and charged with stealing classified information.
• 1999 - Franjo Tuđman dies (b. 1922). President of Croatia.
• 1999 - Rick Danko dies (b. 1942). Canadian bassist and singer (The Band).
• 1999 - Shirley Hemphill dies (b. 1947). American actress.
• 2000 - Marie Windsor dies (b. 1919). American film actress.
• 2001 - Ashok Kumar dies (b. 1911). Indian actor.
• 2002 - The High Court of Australia hands down its judgement in the internet defamation case of Gutnick v Dow Jones.
• 2002 - Former US President Jimmy Carter receives the 2002 Peace Nobel Prize
• 2002 - Andres Küng dies (b. 1945). Swedish-Estonian politician, journalist.
• 2003 - Iranian democracy activist Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, accepted the award in Oslo, Norway.
• 2003 - John Maxwell Coetzee, South African writer receives The Nobel Rize in Literature at the Stockholm Concert Hall.
• 2003 - American Robert F. Engle and British Clive W. J. Granger receive The Nobel Prize in Economics.
• 2004 - A tombstone, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, commemorating the 35th anniversary of the death of Brazilian guerilla Carlos Marighella is inaugurated in Salvador, Bahia.
• 2004 - Anil Kumble becomes India's highest wicket-taker, surpassing Kapil Dev's total of 435.
• 2004 - Wangari Maathai receives The Nobel Prize of Peace (announced 08 Oct 2004 in the Oslo City Hall, Norway,“for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.”
• 2005 - Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 crashes in Nigeria.
• 2005 - Eugene J. McCarthy dies (b. 1916). United States Senator.
• 2005 - Richard Pryor dies (b. 1940). American comedian and actor.
• 2006 - One million Lebanese opposition supporters gather in downtown Beirut, calling for the government to resign.
• 2006 - Augusto Pinochet dies (b. 26 Nov 1915). Chilean dictator.
• 2007 - Aqsa Parvez dies (b. 1991). Canadian victim of an honor crime.
• 2007 – Ashleigh Aston Moore dies (b. 1981). Canadian actress.
• 2008 – Didith Reyes dies (b. 1948). Filipino singer.
  
• R.C. Saints - In Barcelona and elsewhere: Saint Eulalia of Mérida.
• United Nations - Human Rights Day (International)
• International Animal Rights Day.
• Thailand - Constitution Day.
• Alfred Nobel Day or Nobeldagen, presentation ceremony of the Nobel Prize (Sweden).