129 things happened on 10 December, from 1472 to 2020. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1936 · 90 years ago
King Edward VIII signed a document to abdicate, which means give up the throne. He wanted to marry Wallis Simpson, an American who had been divorced, but many people in Britain were against it. His brother became King George VI in his place. Edward had been k…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
Astronomer Edmond Halley presented a paper by Isaac Newton to the Royal Society in London. In it, Newton used his theory of gravity to explain Kepler's laws, the rules that describe how planets move. Newton wrote it after Halley visited him with questions that were puzzling scientists in London, including Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke. Halley later became Britain's second Astronomer Royal.
UK story
The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica was released in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded by Colin Macfarquhar and Andrew Bell, and nearly all of its articles were put together by William Smellie. The first edition was sold in instalments over three years and filled three volumes. The last printed edition came out in 2010, and the encyclopaedia is now published online.
UK story
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by the American author Mark Twain, was first published in the United Kingdom and Canada. It came out two months before it appeared in the United States. The book follows on from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and is told by Huck Finn himself. It is often called the 'Great American Novel'.
UK story
King Edward VIII signed a document to abdicate, which means give up the throne. He wanted to marry Wallis Simpson, an American who had been divorced, but many people in Britain were against it. His brother became King George VI in his place. Edward had been king for less than a year and was later known as the Duke of Windsor.
UK story
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill received the Nobel Prize in Literature. As well as being a politician, Churchill was a writer. He led Britain as Prime Minister during the Second World War, from 1940 to 1945, and again from 1951 to 1955. The literature prize is given for an author's whole body of work, and the Swedish Academy chooses the winner.
UK story
The last shift of miners left Wearmouth Colliery in Sunderland, and the pit closed. It had opened in 1835 on the north bank of the River Wear. It was the last mine still working in the County Durham Coalfield. Its closure ended a long history of coal mining there. The Stadium of Light, home of Sunderland football club, was later built on the site.
UK story
Defeat at the Battle of Dungeness causes the Commonwealth of England to reform its navy.
UK story
During the Brown Dog affair, protesters marched through London and clashed with police officers in Trafalgar Square over the existence of a memorial for animals that had been vivisected.
Martin Luther burned his copy of a papal bull called Exsurge Domine outside the Elster Gate in Wittenberg, Germany. A papal bull is an official public order from the Pope, named after the lead seal attached to it. Luther was a German priest and teacher. He was the leading figure of the Protestant Reformation and is one of the most influential people in Christian history.
France made the metre its official unit for measuring length. The metre is part of the metric system. Metric units are now the most common units in the world and are used in every country. In the UK, older imperial units, such as miles, are still used for some purposes.
The first Nobel Prizes were awarded, five years after the death of Alfred Nobel. Nobel was a Swedish chemist and inventor, best known for inventing dynamite. In his will, he left his fortune to set up the prizes. They were for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace, and they are still seen as the top awards in those fields.
The Papal States, France, Aragon and the Holy Roman Empire formed the League of Cambrai, an alliance against the Republic of Venice.
The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps is founded by Michiel de Ruyter.
Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state.
Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte won France's first presidential election, and was elected as the first and only president of the French Second Republic.
American Civil War: The Confederate States of America accept a rival state government's pronouncement that declares Kentucky to be the 12th state of the Confederacy.
American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union Army troops reach the outer Confederate defenses of Savannah, Georgia.
Russo-Turkish War: The Russian Army captures Plevna after a 5-month siege. The garrison of 25,000 surviving Turks surrenders. The Russian victory is decisive for the outcome of the war and the Liberation of Bulgaria.
The New York World Building, the then-tallest building in the United States at a height of 110 meters, was completed in New York City.
Spanish–American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict. Spain cedes administration of Cuba to the United States, and the United States agrees to pay Spain $20 million for the Philippines.
The opening of the reservoir of the Aswan Dam in Egypt.
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize in any field.
Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first female writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Calbraith Perry Rodgers completed the first transcontinental flight across the United States.
The conclusion of the Emu War, after the Australian Government ordered the withdrawal of all Australian forces from the conflict.
Thailand becomes a constitutional monarchy.
World War II: Battle of the Philippines: Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on Luzon.
The Human Rights Convention is signed by the United Nations.
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.
Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy, under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.
Arab–Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Raúl Alfonsín (pictured) became the first democratically elected president of Argentina to take office after more than seven years of military dictatorship.
At the first open pro-democracy demonstration in Mongolia, journalist Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announced the formation of the Mongolian Democratic Union, which would be instrumental in ending communist rule four months later.
Nursultan Nazarbayev is sworn in as the 1st President of Kazakhstan.
The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic is renamed into the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Nagorno-Karabakh independence referendum is held, with 99.98% voting in favor of independence.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan establishes the Marriage Fund in the United Arab Emirates in response to rising wedding prices.
The video game Doom, later considered the "father" of the first-person shooter genre, is released.
The Israeli army withdraws from Nablus pursuant to the terms of Oslo Accord.
The new Constitution of South Africa is promulgated by Nelson Mandela.
Helen Clark is sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand, the second woman to hold the post and the first following an election.
Rojava conflict: The Syrian Democratic Council is established in Dêrik, forming the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “King Edward VIII signs his abdication”?
C: 1936. 1936 — that’s 90 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “Halley shows the Royal Society Newton's work on gravity and orbits”?
C: 1684. 1684 — that’s 342 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
A: Halley shows the Royal Society Newton's work on gravity and orbits. 1684: Halley shows the Royal Society Newton's work on gravity and orbits · 1884: Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published in Britain · 1936: King Edward VIII signs his abdication Find it on the page
“Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published in Britain” happened in 1884. How many years ago was that?
B: 142 years. 2026 − 1884 = 142. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 10 December.
UK story
Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician and writer. She worked on the Analytical Engine, a mechanical computer planned by Charles Babbage. She was the first to realise it could do much more than just calculate numbers. Because of this, she is often called the first computer programmer. She died in 1852.
UK story
George MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet and church minister. He wrote fairy tales and was one of the pioneers of modern fantasy stories. He was also a mentor, or guide, to his fellow writer Lewis Carroll. As well as stories, he wrote books about the Christian faith, including collections of sermons. He died in 1905.
Well-known people who died on 10 December.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 10 December somewhere in the world.
Human Rights Day is celebrated around the world every year on 10 December. It marks the day in 1948 when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This was the first worldwide statement of the rights that every person should have. It was one of the first big achievements of the new United Nations.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “December 10” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.